France has a new prime minister, as young as the president.

On the evening of May 15 (Vietnam time), Mr. Edouard Philippe was appointed Prime Minister by French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Philippe is the second youngest Prime Minister in French history since 1958.

Mr Macron and Mr Philippe shook hands at an event. Photo: AFP

According to Reuters, this is also the first time since World War II that France has had a Prime Minister from a different party than the current President. Mr. Philippe is 46 years old and a member of the Republicans party while President Macron belongs to the Republic on the Move party.

Thus, after 5 days of vacancy, the French Prime Minister's seat has an owner. The previous French Prime Minister, Mr. Bernard Cazeneuve, resigned on May 10 and was the shortest-serving Prime Minister since 1958.

The choice of Mr. Philippe for the position of Prime Minister demonstrates the determination to "rejuvenate the cabinet" of the new 40-year-old President of France.

According to observers, this is also a calculated move by Mr. Macron, hoping to attract more young politicians to the Republic in the upcoming French parliamentary elections.

A university classmate of Mr Macron, Mr Philippe was mayor of Le Havre and has been a regional MP since 2012. The new French Prime Minister shares President Macron's views on many economic and social issues.

In fact, French politics has seen a change since Mr Macron emerged. The new French president has been likened to a breath of fresh air, attracting dozens of left-wing politicians to his party, including former Prime Minister Manuel Valls of the Socialist Party.

However, Mr Valls was not "welcomed" and was criticized by the Socialist Party leadership for registering to run for parliament with Mr Macron's party.

According to Tuoi Tre