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French Interior Minister Cazeneuve replaces Valls as PM | French Interior Minister Cazeneuve replaces Valls as PM |
(about 2 hours later) | |
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has been named as prime minister, replacing Manuel Valls, who resigned in order to make a bid for the presidency next year. | French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has been named as prime minister, replacing Manuel Valls, who resigned in order to make a bid for the presidency next year. |
Mr Valls presented his resignation to President Francois Hollande on Tuesday. | Mr Valls presented his resignation to President Francois Hollande on Tuesday. |
Mr Cazeneuve will be in charge of the Socialist government until June's parliamentary elections. | Mr Cazeneuve will be in charge of the Socialist government until June's parliamentary elections. |
He has played a key role in managing France's security since the jihadist terror attacks in Paris last year. | He has played a key role in managing France's security since the jihadist terror attacks in Paris last year. |
Mr Valls will face other contenders in the Socialist primary next month. | Mr Valls will face other contenders in the Socialist primary next month. |
Last week, in a move that surprised many, President Hollande announced that he would not seek a second term. | Last week, in a move that surprised many, President Hollande announced that he would not seek a second term. |
He is the first president since France's Fifth Republic was created in 1958 not to seek a second mandate. But he has haemorrhaged support amid stubbornly high unemployment and anxiety about Islamist terror. | He is the first president since France's Fifth Republic was created in 1958 not to seek a second mandate. But he has haemorrhaged support amid stubbornly high unemployment and anxiety about Islamist terror. |
If successful, Mr Valls will face Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election in April. | If successful, Mr Valls will face Francois Fillon and Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election in April. |
Current polling suggests that Ms Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN), could come in the top two in the first round, but would be likely to lose to the centre-right Mr Fillon in the second. | Current polling suggests that Ms Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN), could come in the top two in the first round, but would be likely to lose to the centre-right Mr Fillon in the second. |
Mr Valls is not guaranteed to win the Socialist primary, which will involve at least seven other candidates. | Mr Valls is not guaranteed to win the Socialist primary, which will involve at least seven other candidates. |
He is seen as a divisive figure on the left, after forcing labour reforms through parliament and endorsing controversial bans last summer on the Islamic "burkini" swimsuit. | He is seen as a divisive figure on the left, after forcing labour reforms through parliament and endorsing controversial bans last summer on the Islamic "burkini" swimsuit. |
France's 'R2D2' | |
Mr Cazeneuve, 53, was a spokesman for Mr Hollande during the 2012 presidential campaign that brought victory for Mr Hollande over Nicolas Sarkozy. | |
In 2012-2013, Mr Cazeneuve was junior minister for European affairs. That post included the difficult task of getting parliamentary approval for the EU's European Stability Mechanism, despite opposition from some fellow Socialists. | |
In 2013-2014 he was junior minister for the budget. France's Le Parisien daily says his command of tough budgetary issues earned him the nicknames "Swiss army knife" and "R2D2" - the latter referring to a robot in the original Star Wars film. | |
He became interior minister in 2014 when the incumbent, Jerome Cahuzac, resigned because it was revealed that he had a secret Swiss bank account. | |
Mr Cazeneuve faced a stormy period of national trauma for France, as attacks linked to so-called Islamic State (IS), in Paris and Nice, claimed 238 lives. | |
The Nice attack, when a lorry ploughed into a crowd of revellers on the beachfront, put Mr Cazeneuve under fire for alleged policing failures. | |
He has overseen the state of emergency imposed after last year's Paris attacks, including extra surveillance of suspected jihadists and extra powers for police to conduct searches. | |
In recent months he has had to deal with discontent among police officers, who say the state has left them under-resourced, considering the scale of the terror threat. | |
He is the son of a schoolteacher and was born in Senlis, northern France. |