French Foreign Minister Leaves His Office

• 02.11.2016, 23:17
•  Europe,  World

Christophe Ena/AP

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday he was leaving the government ahead of a reshuffle President Francois Hollande is set to announce in coming days to reshape his team ahead of the 2017 presidential elections.

The reshuffle comes at a time when a beleaguered Hollande is suffering a fresh drop in popularity and deep discontent within his party over contested plans to strip French citizenship from people convicted of terrorism.

''Under the authority of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and under your supervision, I have led French diplomacy with pride and I have served it with pleasure,'' Fabbius told the reporters, according Euronews.

69-year-old Fabius, who played a prominent role in signing an international deal with Iran limiting its nuclear program and helped to broker a global climate change agreement, was chosen by Hollande to become the head of the country's top constitutional court.

A familiar figure on the world stage, he played a key role in signing an international deal with Iran to limit its nuclear programme and won praise for helping to broker a global climate change agreement last year at a UN summit in Paris. For now, he will stay on as chairman of that process and head France’s top constitutional court.

While it is unclear how widespread the reshuffle will be, Reuters tells, speculation is rife over who could join a revamped government in coming days, with Hollande's former prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, or former partner, Environment Minister Segolene Royal, tipped as possible replacements for Fabius.

Whoever ends up around the table in a new cabinet ahead of next year’s French elections, analysts say a reshuffle is unlikely to give a much-needed lift to Hollande’s popularity ratings.