In a solemn ceremony on
Sunday, May 14, 2017 at Elysee Palace in Paris, socialist Francois
Hollande handed over power to Emmanuel Macron, who becomes France’s
youngest ever president.
Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, arrived
at the Elysee Palace in central Paris in a motorcade and walked down the
red carpet under light rain to be greeted by Hollande for his
inauguration.
The new president’s wife Brigitte, a
64-year-old who was his high school drama teacher, arrived separately
for the ceremony wearing a light blue Louis Vuitton outfit.
Emmanuel Macron has took the oath of office as president by the official
inaugural ceremony at the Elysee Palace took over from his predecessor
Francois Hollande. In the photo, along with his wife Brigitte
Trogneuxovou. | Reuters/Benoit Tessier
A week after his victory over far-right
leader Marine Le Pen in a tumultuous election, Macron will have a
private meeting with Hollande at which he will be given the codes to
launch France’s nuclear weapons.
He will then attend a ceremony in front
of hundreds of politicians and invited guests at which the official
election results will be read out.
At the end of the formalities, a 21-gun
salute is to ring out from the Invalides military hospital on the other
side of the River Seine.
Macron will then be driven to the Arc de Triomphe to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
Security was tight with around 1,500
police officers deployed near the presidential palace and the nearby
Champs Elysees avenue and surrounding roads were blocked off.
After a formal lunch, Macron will visit Paris’s town hall, a traditional stop for any new French president in his “host” city.
Macron’s first week will be busy. On
Monday, he is expected to reveal the closely-guarded name of his prime
minister, before flying to Berlin to meet German Chancellor Angela
Merkel.
It is virtually a rite of passage for
French leaders to make their first European trip to meet the leader of
the other half of the so-called “motor” of the EU.
In his inaugural address, Macron pledged
to work to overcome divisions in society which had been shown by the
presidential election campaign and seek to build a strong France that
was sure of itself in the world.
“The division and fractures in our
society must be overcome,” said the 39-year-old centrist who was elected
on May 7 after beating the far right leader Marine Le Pen following a
bitter campaign that was dominated by France’s role in Europe and which
blew apart the traditional party structure in France.
“The world and Europe need more than
ever France, and a strong France, which speaks out loudly for freedom
and solidarity,” Macron declared.
He said under his administration the
labor market would be made more flexible, business-friendly conditions
would be created to help companies function and “innovation” would be at
the heart of his action as president.
via AFP/Reuters
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