France's new hardline interior minister stirs controversy just days into job

RFI

27 September 2024 at 9:57 am·1-min read

France's new "top cop" – the incoming Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau – has been quick to set out his three priorities: "Order, order ... and order".

The government needs to expand its "legal arsenal" and build more prisons, the 63-year-old said. And "all measures" must be used to bring down immigration.

Retailleau, the only high-profile arrival into President Emmanuel Macron's new government, nailed his conservative colours to the mast just days after becoming interior minister.

His appointment as the "premier flic" (top cop) of France is emblematic of the rightward shift of the government under new Prime Minister Michel Barnier following this summer's legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.

Like Barnier, Retailleau does not come from Macron's centrist movement but the traditional right-wing Republicans Party (LR) and even then from its most conservative side.

Formerly head of LR lawmakers in the upper house Senate, the always crisply dressed Retailleau carved out a reputation as a hardliner on social issues.

He opposed gay marriage, the inscription of the right to abortion in the French constitution and, most recently, new legislation on the right to die.

The post of interior minister in France has long been seen as a launch pad for tough-talking politicians.

Unlike them, Retailleau is not seen as harbouring presidential ambition.

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