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France - IMF -

Article published the Wednesday 29 June 2011 - Latest update : Wednesday 29 June 2011

Infighting to succeed Lagarde hits French government after IMF appointment

Christine Lagarde earlier this week

Reuters

By RFI

Christine Lagarde's appointment as director-general of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has opened up a battle to succeed her as France’s finance minister. President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister François Fillon had hoped to name a successor straight away but were unable to do so because of bitter competition for the job, according to l’Express magazine.

Lagarde, who will be the first woman ever to run the IMF when she takes over on 5 July, was due to attend Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, where her successor was expected to be named.

Dossier: The Strauss-Kahn affair rocks France, IMF

Sarkozy and Fillon had hoped to announce a decision on Tuesday after her new job was announced,l’Express reports. But they could not do so because both Budget Minister and government spokesperson François Baroin and Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire had threatened to resign from the government if they did not get the top economy job, sources told the magazine.

Higher Education Valérie Pécresse was also reported to be in the running.

After her appointment, Lagarde declared that she would like to meet Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned as IMF chief after being accused of sexual assault in New York, “because a successor should speak to her predecessor”.

Dossier: Eurozone in crisis

Speaking on French television, she called on Greece’s right-wing opposition to back the Socialist Party government in voting in the latest austerity package on Wednesday.

She is likely to face further debt crises hitting other European countries and the United States during her mandate and has to deliver on promises to give more support to African countries and give emerging economies more of a role in the fund.

Most, but not all, reactions to Lagarde's appointment have been positive:

The French government hailed “a victory for France”;
Rival candidate, Mexican central bank head Agustin Carstens said she is “very capable”;
India called for “governance and quota reforms … to reflect global economic realities”;
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said she was an “excellent choice”;
World Bank boss Robert Zoellick said he is keen to work with her;
Oxfam France director Luc Lamprière condemned a “travesty of an appointment”, claiming that promises of openness had been broken;
Would-be French Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande warned that she “does not have the same orientation as her predecessor [Socialist Party member Strauss-Kahn]” and called on her to “understand that she is on longer a minister for Nicolas Sarkozy”;
Hard-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon said there was “no reason for France to be proud” of the appointment to the head of “one of the financial system’s principal institutions for oppressing peoples”.