PARIS — A French government reshuffle, expected since the resignation of the interior minister two weeks ago, was postponed on Monday, an aide close to President Emmanuel Macron said.

The decision was due to deadly floods in the south of France, which both Macron and Prime Minister Edouard Philippe were monitoring, the official said.

The official could not say if the reshuffle, which Macron hopes will allow him to draw a line under a difficult few months, with three ministers having left the government since the end of August, would take place before the weekly Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

The new Cabinet line-up, which had been expected shortly after Gerard Collomb resigned as interior minister on Oct. 2, has been portrayed as imminent for at least a week.

Opposition politicians say the delay shows that Macron’s political party, Republique En Marche, which was created barely two years ago to prepare his bid for the presidency, is struggling to attract candidates to join the government.

After a positive first few months in office, Macron, 40, has seen his popularity wane. Most opinion polls now put his approval rating at barely 30 percent, less than half the level shortly after he took office.

Opponents have been emboldened.

“Postponed again! It’s not a government #reshuffle anymore, it’s a collapse: that of the President’s authority,” hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted.

Macron and his government say he and Philippe are simply taking the time needed to put together the right team.

“In any organization ... you need to take the time to know people, make sure you have the same mindset, check everything,” Macron told France 24 and RFI television on Friday.

“I’m doing things calmly,” he said, adding that the government was carrying on normally with its work.

Philippe has taken on the interior portfolio on an interim basis. — Reuters