Paris - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy was to name a new cabinet line-up on Sunday, hoping to reinvigorate his government and set the stage for his undeclared 2012 re-election campaign.
Sarkozy cleared the decks late on Saturday by accepting the resignation of Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his government, and aides said he would rapidly re-appoint the same man at the head of a reshuffled team
He had first signalled in March that he planned to renew his cabinet, and there has been mounting political tension since he confirmed this in June, as ministers jostled for seats at the cabinet table.
Since the reshuffle was mooted two ministers have resigned over expenses scandals and another, Labour Minister Eric Woerth, clung on despite being implicated in a probe into alleged illegal party funding.
The government has stumbled forward stubbornly, but its leader has plumbed new depths of unpopularity and many observers view the reshuffle as Sarkozy's last chance to seize control of the agenda before 2012.
Sarkozy's own opinion poll approval ratings dropped to around 30 percent, as voters turn their backs on his domineering personal style or are outraged by austerity measures like his raising of the retirement age.
In recent months he has taken a sharp swerve to the right on law and order and immigration issues, sparking international outrage with a drive to expel Roma Gypsies back to their homelands in Eastern Europe.
Observers expect the new cabinet to be shrunk from 37 members to 26 and to be dominated by members of Sarkozy's own right-wing majority party, the UMP, as he shores up his conservative support base in time for the election.
“It's legitimate that we begin this stage with a team that will doubtless be deeply re-thought,” Families Minister Nadine Morano told Sunday's edition of the daily Le Parisien.
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, a high-profile former Socialist, is expected to go, and right-wing former prime minister Alain Juppe confirmed Saturday that he expects to rejoin government as defence minister.
In recent weeks there had been widespread speculation that Sarkozy would attempt to mollify the centre-right by appointing his outgoing environment minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, in Fillon's place as prime minister.
But Fillon who has consistently enjoyed higher poll ratings than Sarkozy and has support within the majority UMP Ä made it clear he wanted to stay, and it was he who met twice with the president on Saturday.
Borloo also saw Sarkozy, but it was Fillon who warmly shook the president's hand on the steps of the Elysee Palace at around 7.30pm (18.30 GMT), shortly before the presidency set the reshuffle wheels in motion.
“It's 100 percent sure,” said a leading UMP source, when asked whether Fillon could expect to remain at his post. Aides said Borloo has been offered the foreign or justice ministries or an expanded environment ministry.
Saturday's drama marked the first time in the history of France's fifth republic that a prime minister has resigned over the weekend, and came as a surprise to some observers, who had expected Fillon to wait until Monday.
One leading member of the UMP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Nicolas Sarkozy wanted to show that he is master of the calendar, and that it is he who decides when to act.”
There is no power vacuum at the heart of the French state pending Sarkozy's announcement, as each minister will continue to take care of ongoing matters until his or her successor are named. - Sapa-AFP