PARIS, April 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) – French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his Senegalese-born media advisor as government spokeswoman, one of three new faces for his cabinet as it gears up for the European Parliament elections next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sibeth Ndiaye, a 39-year-old born in Dakar, only obtained French citizenship in 2016 while working as She replaces Benjamin Griveaux, whose resignation last week came ahead of a suspected run for Paris mayor next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “France has given me a lot. Today, it’s my turn to give something back,” Ndiaye said at a handover ceremony in Paris on Monday, praising her parents for helping her and her sisters “break through glass ceilings”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After growing up with a politician father and a mother who was president of Senegal’s Constitutional Council, Ndiaye moved to Paris to study at university and became a leftwing student activist before joining the Socialist Party in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Her nomination is a strong endorsement of diversity in a high-profile job, a promotion and a sign of the president’s trust,” Philippe Grangeon, one of Macron’s top advisers, told French daily Le Monde.Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s a challenge for this engaging young woman, whose path has been quite different from that of a typical government minister,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three new faces in the government are all aged under 40 and keep Macron’s pledge for a gender-balanced cabinet in tact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cedric O, a 36-year-old former treasurer for Macron’s campaign whose father is South Korean, has replaced digital affairs minister Mounir Mahjoubi, who is also planning to compete for the Paris mayor job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reshuffle was prompted by the departure of European Affairs Minister Nathalie Loiseau to head Macron’s Republic on the Move list for the European Parliament vote on May 23-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her job was taken by Amelie de Montchalin, 33, a Republic on the Move lawmaker heavily involved in building the French budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Working on European matters will require plenty of combativeness and plenty of energy,” she told BFM television on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n