Transcription
Let's get more with Olivia Bizor. She's at the Eliza Palace. Uh uh Olivia, sorry. Quite a few names to unpack right now. What do you have for us?
Yes. So, the news has just come out. 34 ministers have been announced by the Iliz Palis after hours of waiting, uh while meetings were taking place between the French president Emanuel M and uh the prime minister Sebastian Luku. Uh as I said, two-thirds of the government is being recycled. There are lots of familiar names.
One of those familiar names is Jean Noel Baru, who's been confirmed to remain at the foreign ministry. Uh his retention is a signal of stability in international affairs despite the domestic turmoil. There are also some new faces that we're seeing, uh to show that there has been um some some technocratic expertise that's being brought into this new government.
Examples include Jean Pierre Farandu, who was the former CEO of the National Train Service SNCF, uh to do that. He's going to be um handling the Labor portfolio. Surprisingly, in this new government, uh Geral Dharma is remaining as a justice minister. Now, that is incredibly surprising because Sebastian Luku had said, uh previously, that he did not want to put ministers um in power who have any presidential ambitions for the 2027 elections.
Now, the has called for a sober and private handover uh ceremony for all new ministers. It's a clear effort to downplay uh the political event and project an image of technical seriousness amid all of this um chaos and the ongoing crisis. The urgency is dictated by the president.
A full cabinet meeting is set for Tuesday. It was supposed to happen on Monday, where Sebastian Lukanu was supposed to put forward uh his budget, but it's now taking place on Tuesday so that President Emanuel Mong can attend, as he is setting off to Egypt in just a few hours. Olivia, thank you so much.
And we also also getting a confirmation. Lauron Nunees, the Parure head, has been named as the interior minister. Katkin Vatka comes in as defense minister. Uh Olivia, we are expecting a lot of reaction, and I'm sure you will have that more with us as we, uh, well, as the minutes tick by until the budget deadline.
Yes, exactly. We're going to have um a lot more reactions uh before uh this budget is announced to the National Assembly. Now, there is an attempt to, I mean, the main objective of this uh new government really is to be a push through uh with that budget, which they are going to be doing at that meeting on Tuesday. Uh, the time is ticking. I if it is to um go through the necessary procedures and the necessary checks so that the budget can be accepted before the end of the year, on the 31st of December, that's when the current budget expires. So it is really a race against the clock, a race against the clock, and a race for Emanuel Makum before he leaves for Egypt. Olivia Bizo, thank you so.