Elisabeth Borne will have lasted as many days at Matignon on Monday as Edith Cresson, the first woman to occupy this position, with uncertainty for the rest of her mandate, heckled by pensions, when her predecessor was challenged by the barons of the PS on the background of ambient sexism.
"The method will be that of consultation and dialogue" to seek "the largest majorities". It is not Elisabeth Borne who pronounces these words but the socialist Edith Cresson, named "Prime Minister" on May 15, 1991.
Because the two women are faced with the same difficulty: the absence of an absolute majority in the National Assembly, even if only a few deputies were missing for Ms. Cresson, instead of forty for Ms. Borne.
To pass texts, they must convince beyond their camp or, failing that, use 49.3, which allows the adoption of projects without a vote but exposes them to censorship.
Edith Cresson has used this constitutional weapon 8 times, Elisabeth Borne 11 times, including to pass the highly contested pension reform, stoking protest in the street and weakening it in Matignon.
On Monday, his rue de Varenne lease will have reached that of Edith Cresson: 10 months and 18 days. A deadline watched closely by the Elysée: considering a replacement before this term would have been "dramatic in the memory that it would leave", notes an adviser.
Unlike Edith Cresson, attacked in her management including by the "elephants" of the PS on a background of "machismo", Elisabeth Borne did not displease her majority.
"Some said she (Elisabeth Borne) is going to be cressonnized. Well not at all, there are zero questions about her size to manage the function. She is doing the best," greeted a close friend of Emmanuel Macron in early February.
After 49.3, the former head of government Edouard Philippe, sometimes critical, even comforted her: "I know what it is to be Prime Minister, another can say it too. It's not easy, I'm appreciative".
If Elisabeth Borne were to leave Matignon, "it will be necessary to judge her on her political action and not on her gender", insists a majority executive. And "nothing prevents the president from appointing a woman after a woman. His first choice (LR Catherine Vautrin, editor's note) was also a woman".
"The question asked is: the president has asked for a new agenda (to enlarge the majority, editor's note). Will she be able to endorse it?" Adds this source from the presidential camp.
Socialist Senator Laurence Rossignol considers that "we have made a lot of progress" since Edith Cresson, because "as Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne can be criticized, but she is respected as a woman".
In this case, she was not compared to her arrival with the Marquise de Pompadour like Edith Cresson, whose appointment by François Mitterrand, to replace Michel Rocard, had been seen, including at the PS, as the act of the prince.
The current Prime Minister nevertheless still finds it "super sexist" that some criticize her for not "eating rib steaks while drinking beer".
When Elisabeth Borne receives Edith Cresson at Matignon on November 8, the two women believe that "things have not evolved enough" on equality, and that a woman at Matignon "should no longer be a source of astonishment".
In thirty years, the government has become equal but only 5 women out of 21 are full ministers.
The fiery Edith Cresson multiplied missteps and reckless remarks. "The Stock Exchange, I don't care," she said, also comparing her ministers to "woodlice".
When François Mitterrand separated from him on April 2, 1992 to appoint Pierre Bérégovoy, a former Minister of the Economy respected by the markets and the opposition, "it's positive for the president", explains to AFP Jean Garrigues, author of "Elysée against Matignon" (Tallandier, 2022).
Because the discontent was aimed at her more than the head of state who "remained more sheltered".
Today, the anger of the demonstrators "crystallizes on Emmanuel Macron" so that "the Jupiterian presidency could be worth a greater longevity" to its Prime Minister, advances the historian.
02/04/2023 09:41:51 - Paris (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
