French Prime Minister Francois Fillon resigns

November 14, 2010 The French Prime Minister,, resigned yesterday which will allow President Nicolas Sarkozy to reshuffle his cabinet.

The resignation took place weeks after the French parliament passed controversial pension reform. television's senior foreign political analyst, Christian Mallard, said "Fillon's resignation gives Sarkozy the opportunity to shake up the current leadership of some ministries."

However Mallard, along with many others believe that it is very possible that Sarkozy will reinstate Fillon and that the Prime Minister resigned so that Sarkozy could switch some of his ministers in order to gain conservative support in the 2012 general elections. Earlier yesterday Sarkozy and Fillon were engaged in a meeting and according to President Sarkoy's office, "[t]he president has accepted this resignation."

The resignation might also see a reduction from 24 ministers to 16 according to Mallard.