2023-12-20 13:01:40
Published on Dec 20 2023 at 2:01 p.m.
He was to be one of the incarnations of the left wing of the macronie, but will ultimately symbolize its fracture: Aurélien Rousseau, former chief of staff of Elisabeth Borne who became Minister of Health at the end of July, chose this Wednesday to slam the door faced with the right-wing of the immigration bill.
After the vote Tuesday evening on the immigration bill in Parliament, significantly toughened in the joint joint committee compared to the initial version and supported by the National Rally, Aurélien Rousseau officially resigned from his post following a night and a morning where the executive maintained the vagueness regarding his remaining in the government.
“Not an easy choice”
The government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, confirmed his departure this Wednesday following the Council of Ministers. He announced that the Minister Delegate in charge of Territorial Organization and Health Professions, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, will take over in the interim. “I have a lot of esteem, a lot of friendship” for Aurélien Rousseau “and I thank him for what he put in place and continued […] The choice to resign is not an easy choice,” he added.
The appointment of Aurélien Rousseau as Minister of Health was the surprise of last July’s reshuffle, when he succeeded emergency doctor François Braun. An excellent connoisseur of the French health system, Aurélien Rousseau notably led the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency during the Covid crisis. A historian by training and an enarch attached to the Council of State, he was then the chief of staff of Elisabeth Borne for fourteen months.
Coming from the left – he was a member of the PCF in his youth – he previously worked in the office of the former mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë, then with the socialist Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve.
Appointed to the Ministry of Health with the mission in particular of rebuilding the dilapidated link between power and caregivers, Aurélien Rousseau will have, during his short stay at the ministry – five months -, notably relaunched price negotiations with doctors. He had calmed the climate with nerve-racked liberal doctors’ unions, but he left before revealing his cards on the crucial question of prices.
Opposed to the end of the AME
He very quickly opposed the abolition of State Medical Aid (AME) wanted by the Senate, in the debates on this immigration bill which ultimately led to his departure. A refusal in line with his convictions and those of the caregivers, who were largely in favor of maintaining it and who feared the consequences of its removal in terms of public health. The AME for undocumented immigrants was ultimately maintained, subject to a reform of the system in 2024.
In his purse also included the bill on the end of life, a sensitive and divisive text whose publication was postponed until January 2024. Like his predecessor François Braun, he had largely left it to the delegate minister Agnès Firmin Le Bodo. to conduct the work.
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