Topic: New French Team Remodels Key Ministries

New York Times
May 19, 2007
Pg. 4


PARIS, May 18 (Agence France-Presse) — President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a slimmed-down government of 15 ministers on Friday, including seven women and Bernard Kouchner, a left-wing human rights champion, as foreign minister.
The new team remodels several crucial ministries.
The appointment of Mr. Sarkozy’s election campaign spokeswoman, Rachida Dati, 41, at the Justice Ministry made her the first politician of North African origin to hold a top French government post.
Alain Juppé, a prime minister under the former president, Jacques Chirac, returns at the helm of a new Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Energy.
A popular former employment minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, was named minister for the economy, finance and employment, a new portfolio to spearhead Mr. Sarkozy’s economic reform drive.
A former defense minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, was given Mr. Sarkozy’s former job at the Interior Ministry.
A close aide to Mr. Sarkozy, Brice Hortefeux, takes charge of the new Immigration and National Identity Ministry, while Hervé Morin, of the centrist UDF party, will be defense minister.