France announces Cabinet shake-up

President Nicholas Sarkozy revamped France\'s Cabinet on Tuesday, turning to conservative loyalists and ousting two poorly performing ministers in second reshuffle of the government since he took office in 2007, according to a report by Laurent Pirot of the Associated Press.



Prime Minister Francois Fillion will stay on, and crucial international posts including the foreign and defense ministers remained unchanged. Newcomers are set to take charge in important posts at the Justice, Education and Interior Ministries.



The announcement of the Cabinet shake-up by Elysee Palace secretary-general Claude Gueant had been expected after two ministers - Justice Minister Rachida Dati and Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier - were elected to the European Parliament on June 7.



But the changes also gave Sarkozy a pretext to jettison two women who were widely considered failures in their jobs, Dati, and Culture Minister Christine Albanel.



Dati, the highest-ranking woman of North African descent ever to serve in France\'s Cabinet, struggled against violent protests by prison workers that enflamed an already tense situation in the country\'s overcrowded prisons.



The changes also make the top ranks of the government less diverse; only four women are among the 18 full ministers, down from seven in the previous one. Including the junior ministers, the Cabinet is made up of 38 members.



Among the biggest surprises was the choice as culture minister of Frederic Mitterrand, the nephew of late Socialist President Francois Mitterrand and current head of the Rome branch of the Alliance France cultural organization.



The Cabinet changes are the second since Sarkozy and a conservative majority in parliament was elected in mid-2007.