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New French president Macron chooses government from across political spectrum

New French president Macron chooses government from across political spectrum
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New French president Emmanuel Macron has appointed a mix of ministers from across the political spectrum to his new government.

The centrist is acting on his promise to bridge the right-left divide in French politics.

Macron picked Bruno Le Maire, a pro-European Republican who speaks German, as his economy minister.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, the outgoing Socialist defence minister and a close friend of ex-president Francois Hollande, was named foreign minister and minister for Europe.

While the socialist mayor of Lyon and keen supporter of Macron, Gerard Collomb, was named interior minister and Sylvie Goulard, a centrist EU lawmaker, was named defence minister.

Macron had already made conservative Edouard Philippe, a member of the Republicans party, his Prime Minister earlier this week.

Fulfilling his commitment to include people from civil society in his team, he named well-known environmentalist Nicolas Hulot as ecology minister.

The government appointments are part of a delicate balancing act Macron has to perform ahead of the mid-June legislative elections.

By becoming president with no established party, he must broaden his support to ensure he ends up with a workable majority.

However, he could be risking future dissent with such an array of political thinking in his close team.

Early polls predictions show his start-up, Republic on the Move, is on track to gain more lower-house seats than any other.