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Elisabeth Borne Appointed France’s New Prime Minister

France's Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (AP)
France's Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (AP)
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Elisabeth Borne Appointed France’s New Prime Minister

France's Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (AP)
France's Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves after the weekly cabinet meeting, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. (AP)

Elisabeth Borne was appointed France's new prime minister on Monday to become the second woman to hold the post in the country.

Borne, 61, succeeds Jean Castex, whose resignation was expected after President Emmanuel Macron’s reelection last month.

Macron and Borne are expected to appoint the full government in the coming days.

Borne is the second woman to hold the position after Edith Cresson, who was prime minister in 1991-1992 under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

She has served as Labor Minister in Macron’s previous government since 2020. Before that, she was transport minister and then minister of ecological Transition, also under Macron.

Castex came to the Elysee presidential palace on Monday to formally offer his resignation, which the president "accepted,” the Elysee said in a statement.

In France, it's common for presidents to have more than one prime minister during their terms.

The new prime minister’s first mission will be to make sure that Macron’s centrist party and its allies do well in France's parliamentary election in June. The vote, scheduled for two rounds, will determine which group holds the majority of seats at the National Assembly, which has the final say over the Senate in France's law-making process.

Macron also promised a bill addressing the rising cost of living in France, where food and energy prices are surging. It will be prepared by his new government and is expected to be presented just after the parliamentary election.

If Macron’s party wins a majority in the Assembly, the prime minister will then need to ensure that pension changes promised by the president are put into law, including raising the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65. The proposed changes have been criticized by workers, unions and left-wing voters.

Macron also promised that the new prime minister would be directly in charge of "green planning," seeking to accelerate France's implementation of climate-related policies. Macron vowed to go "twice as fast" in his second term to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

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Kurdish PKK Says Held 'Successful' Meeting on Disbanding

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Kurdish PKK Says Held 'Successful' Meeting on Disbanding

An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)
An Iraqi Kurdish woman waves a flag bearing the portrait of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan as people gather at Freedom Park to listen to an audio message by the jailed leader in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region on February 27, 2025. (AFP)

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) held a "successful" meeting this week with a view to disarming and disbanding, a Kurdish news agency close to the armed movement said on Friday.  

The meeting resulted in "decisions of historic importance concerning the PKK's activities, based on the call" of founder Abdullah Ocalan, who in February urged the movement to dissolve, the ANF agency said.  

The congress, which was held between Monday and Wednesday, took place in the "Media Defense Zones" -- a term used by the movement to designate the Kandil mountains of northern Iraq where the PKK military command is located, the agency reported.  

The PKK did not explicitly say it was dissolving but added that it would share "full and detailed information with regard to the outcome of this congress very soon", it said.

On February 27, Ocalan urged his fighters to disarm and disband, ending a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.  

In his historic call -- in a letter read out by pro-Kurdish delegates at a news conference in Istanbul -- Ocalan urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalize the decision.  

Days later, the PKK's leadership accepted Ocalan's call, declaring a ceasefire.

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned there will be harsh consequences "if the promises are not kept" or the militants delay disarming.  

The pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy party (DEM), the third largest party in Türkiye's parliament, hailed the news in a statement on Friday.  

"With the PKK's historic congress decisions, we are one step closer to the horizon of peace after fifty years of conflict," it said.  

"This is a step towards the re-emergence and development of peace and democratic politics that have been longed for, for centuries, in the heart of our ancient lands."  

DEM's spokesperson Aysegul Dogan had told a news conference before the announcement of the congress: "We are ready to fulfill all our responsibilities with courage, devotion and determination for a Türkiye where we can all breathe together, where an equal, fair and permanent peace is achieved and where our vision of a democratic society is realized."  

A DEM delegation held talks with Ocalan in his prison island off Istanbul, as well as with Turkish political parties and contacts in Iraq.

Turkish media reported that the PKK delayed announcement of the congress because DEM delegation member Sirri Sureyya Onder died on Saturday aged 62.  

Onder was a veteran politician who won respect across Türkiye's political spectrum for his efforts to end years of Kurdish conflict.  

"It is highly probable that PKK already gathered its congress and delayed the announcement because of Onder's death," a DEM source told AFP.  

"This also fits the calendar previously announced" by nationalist MHP party leader Devlet Bahceli, a strong ally of Erdogan and a key figure in efforts to resume talks, the source added.  

Bahceli had proposed the PKK meet in Malazgirt near Lake Van in Türkiye's far east on May 4.