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Macron appoints conservative Michel Barnier as prime minister [1]

['Le Monde With Afp']

Date: 2024-09-05

The newly appointed prime minister, Michel Barnier (R), shakes hands with the outgoing prime minister, Gabriel Attal, during the handover ceremony at the Hôtel de Matignon in Paris, on September 5, 2024. GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron appointed veteran politician Michel Barnie as prime minister on Thursday, September 5, after almost two months of deadlock following legislative elections that produced no clear majority in Parliament.

At 73, Barnier is the oldest premier in the history of modern France and has been tasked with forming "a unifying government in the service of the country," the presidency said in a statement. In a striking contrast, the former foreign minister succeeds Gabriel Attal, 35, a man less than half his age and who served only eight months in office.

A right-wing former minister and European commissioner, Barnier was the European Union's negotiator on Brexit. He has been all but invisible in French political life since failing to win his party's nomination to challenge Macron for the presidency in 2022.

Read more Subscribers only Michel Barnier, a man of consensus as prime minister

France had been without a permanent government since the July 7 polls, in which the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron's centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups. Amid the political deadlock Macron, who has less than three years of his term remaining, ran down the clock as the Olympics and Paralympics took place in Paris, to the growing frustration of opponents.

Radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared the "election has been stolen," after Barnier's appointment was announced. "It's not the Nouveau Front Populaire, which came out on top in the [legislative] elections, that will have the prime minister and the responsibility of standing before the deputies," reacted the La France Insoumise leader on his YouTube channel on Thursday.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure decried the decision as the beginning of "a regime crisis" in a post on X. "The democratic denial has reached its apogee: a prime minister from the party that came fourth and didn't even take part in the republican front [against the far right]. We're entering a regime crisis."

Macron's centrist faction and the far right make up the two other major groups in the Assemblée Nationale, finishing second and third respectively.

Read more French elections: Compose your own majority with our coalition simulator

Far right to judge 'on evidence'

Conservative ex-minister Xavier Bertrand and former Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve had been seen as favorites in recent days. But both figures fell by the wayside with the mathematics of France's new parliament stacked against them. Both risked facing a no-confidence motion that could garner support from both the left bloc and the far right.

Macron appears to be counting on the far-right Rassemblement National of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen not to block the appointment of Barnier. "We will wait to see Mr Barnier's policy speech" to parliament, said Le Pen, the leader in parliament of the RN, the party that holds the most seats in the lower house following July snap polls. RN party leader Jordan Bardella said Barnier would be judged "on evidence" when he addresses parliament.

Read more Subscribers only Far right given kingmaker role in Macron's prime minister search

Greens leader Marine Tondelier countered: "We know in the end who decides. Her name is Marine Le Pen. She is the one to whom Macron has decided to submit."

Record-length caretaker government

Never in the history of the Fifth Republic – which began with constitutional reform in 1958 – had France gone so long without a permanent government, leaving the previous administration led by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in place as caretakers.

Read more France sets its new record for longest period under caretaker government

To the fury of the left, Macron refused to accept the nomination of a left-wing premier, arguing such a figure would have no chance of surviving a confidence motion in parliament. France's left-wing New Popular Front alliance had demanded that the president pick their candidate Lucie Castets, a 37-year-old economist and civil servant with a history of left-wing activism.

The new prime minister will face the most delicate of tasks in seeking to agree legislation in a highly polarised Assemblée Nationale at a time of immense challenges. An October 1 deadline is now looming for the new government to file a draft budget law for 2025. With debts piling up to 110% of annual output, France has this year suffered a credit rating cut from Standard and Poor's and been told off by the European Commission for excessive deficits.

Barnier's "task looks tough, but difficulty has never scared him," said former prime minister Edouard Philippe, who earlier this week announced he would seek to succeed Macron in the next presidential election. Speaking to Le Figaro and using rugby parlance, Attal expressed hope his successor could "convert the try" of the policies whose implementation he could not complete during his time in office.

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[1] Url: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/politics/article/2024/09/05/macron-appoints-michel-barnier-as-prime-minister_6724914_5.html

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