French President, Emmanuel Macron Appoints Jean Castex As New PM

President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named senior French civil servant Jean Castex, who drew up the policy for easing the coronavirus lockdown, as his new prime minister as part of a government reshuffle.

“The president of the Republic has named Jean Castex as prime minister and mandated him to form a government,” the presidency said in a brief statement.

Recall that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and his entire government resigned Friday, July 3, as Macron’s ruling party reels from dire local election results and the president prepares to tackle the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In other news, former French prime minister, François Fillon and his Welsh wife, Penelope, were sentenced to jail on Monday, June 30, for embezzling public funds as part of the “fake job” scandal.

A French court found Francois guilty of charges of creating a fake job for his wife, which paid her over €1 million ($1.13 million) using taxpayer money.