Macron announces partial cabinet reshuffle

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced a long-awaited partial cabinet reshuffle prompted by the recent resignation of several ministers, his office said.

Macron brought the head of his La Republique En Marche (Republic on the Move) party and close advisor, Christophe Castanar, into the cabinet as the country's new Interior Minister, thus replacing Gerard Collomb, who tendered his resignation at the start of the month in order to run for mayor of Lyon, reports Efe news.

The 40-year-old President also appointed new heads of the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion, Jacqueline Gourault, the Ministry of Culture, Franck Riester, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Didier Guillaume.

Macron's government suffered a series of resignations in recent months, including his Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, famed environmentalist Nicolas Hulot, who unexpectedly quit the government during a live radio interview in August.

It came at a time when Macron sought to push through a batch of unpopular labour and social reforms whose safe passage through the National Assembly depended on his party majority in the chamber.

--IANS

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