Hollande snubs party boss as cabinet named

French President François Hollande named a government dominated by moderate left-wingers yesterday after Socialist Party boss Martine Aubry, overlooked for the post of prime minister, said she no longer wanted to be part of the new cabinet.

Hollande, sworn in on Tuesday as France’s first Socialist president in 17 years, named Pierre Moscovici as finance minister and Laurent Fabius as foreign minister, under Prime Minister Jean- Marc Ayrault, like them a social democrat.

Ayrault said the team of 17 men and 17 women, the vast majority of whom have not been ministers before, was the first in French history to respect total gender balance, and their first meeting today would deliver on a promise to cut their own salaries by 30%.