Paris: Three ministers quit the French government on Wednesday, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said, as they prepared to run in upcoming European and municipal elections.
The departures bring to 10 the number of ministers to have left Macron’s centrist government since he took office in 2017.
A presidential statement announced the departure of Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau, head of the list for Macron’s party in the May European elections, as well as junior ministers Benjamin Griveaux and Mounir Mahjoubi who are both planning to run for mayor of Paris in 2020.
The presidency has given no indication on their possible successors. They are expected to be announced by Monday, the date of Macron’s next cabinet meeting.
Macron’s Europe adviser Clement Beaune is said to be in line to replace Loiseau in the ministerial role, a key post in communicating France’s position on the fraught Brexit negotiations.
Among other ministers to have left Macron’s government previously were Nicolas Hulot, who quit as ecology minister last year accusing Macron of not giving priority to environmental reforms.
