Today is resignation day Emmanuel Macron, Minister of Economy in the center-left government chaired by Manuel Valls, and by now designated heir to François Hollande at the helm of the Socialist Party: the 38-year-old, a graduate in Political Science and former university assistant of Philosophy, is leaving his office because is officially a candidate for the race for the Elysium, which will be decided with the elections next spring and where he will challenge the leader of the Front National Marine Le Pen and the revived Nicolas Sarkozy, former president from 2007 to 2012 and once again a point man of the centre-right.
After months of rumors, Macron has therefore formalized his choice, which was largely in the air given that he already set up his own political movement a year and a half ago, “En marche!”, and who is considered by many to be one of the most popular and esteemed ministers in the Hollande government. Appointed Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital exactly two years ago (August 26, 2014), Macron immediately stood out for the liberal turn he wanted to give to the mandate. It is in fact considered the best member of the more liberal left, almost centrist, so much so that it has been defined by Le Figaro as "the right hemisphere of the Elysée".
"Businesses are the symbol of success and the real strength of the country", he had in fact told Hollande when the president, at the beginning of his mandate, was stubborn with 75% taxation on large earnings (from 1 million euros upwards) . “It's like being in Cuba, but without the sun!” A young Macron had ironically exclaimed during the electoral campaign, implying his absolute disapproval. Macron, who will therefore aim to compensate for the collapse of his president's popularity by trying to gather consensus also in the moderate area (thus stemming Sarkozy's comeback), has also been close to the world of finance for some time: at the age of just 30 he became trusted banker of the Rothschild family, for which he also dealt with one of the biggest recent deals, the acquisition by Nestlé of a subsidiary by Pfizer.
Macron will be replaced by Michel Fir, former holder of the Ministry of Finance: there will therefore be a merger between the two ministries, the head of which in the last few months of his mandate has been designated by the 64-year-old, historic member of the French Socialist Party.
