Sarkozy reshuffles month-old government

Former lawyer Christine Lagarde was named finance minister and Jean-Louis Borloo, her predecessor, took over as the environment and energy minister in a reshuffle today of France’s month-old government.

In a move rich in symbolism, President Nicolas Sarkozy also named a woman of Senegalese origin and the outspoken head of a group that advocates for Muslim women as junior ministers.

Mr Sarkozy already had made a woman with North African roots, Rachida Dati, his justice minister.

The additional appointments of Fadela Amara and Rama Yade highlighted his determination that the government should better reflect France’s ethnic and religious diversity.

Ms Lagarde was formerly agriculture minister. The reshuffle was prompted by the governing conservative party’s poor performance in weekend legislative elections, which saw the defeat and resignation of the government’s No.2, Alain Juppe.

Mr Borloo takes over from Mr Juppe as the de-facto deputy prime minister.

At the helm of the key ministry, Ms Lagarde will oversee a series of reforms including tax cuts and a retooling of France’s 35-hour workweek.

Ms Lagarde, 51, rose through the ranks of prestigious American firm Baker and McKenzie, becoming its first female director in 1999. Placed 76 on Forbes Magazine’s 2004 list of the world’s most powerful women, Ms Lagarde has also served as France’s foreign trade minister.

Michel Barnier, a former foreign minister, will replace Ms Lagarde at the Agriculture Ministry. That is expected to give him a key role in trade negotiations.

The legislative elections gave Mr Sarkozy’s conservatives and their allies a comfortable majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, with 345 seats. That was fewer than the 359 seats Sarkozy’s party had in the outgoing parliament and certainly not the “tsunami-sized” triumph predicted by pollsters.