PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron is Finally appointed Prime Minister to break France’s political deadlock.
By doing so, he has given the far right a major victory.
The survival of Michel Barnier’s future government depends on the goodwill of National Rally, the far-right party of Marine Le Pen that finished third in this summer’s snap election.
The New Popular Front, the left-wing coalition that won the most seats but fell short of an outright majority, has already vowed to support a no-confidence motion against Barnier in the National Assembly. Barnier will therefore need far-right support to ensure his government does not fall immediately – the pro-Macron coalition and the conservative Republican right-wing bloc likely to back the new prime minister have just 213 seats, short of the 289 needed. is the majority.
National rally leaders have laid out their terms for support in recent days: measures on purchasing power, security and immigration; introduction of proportional representation in Parliament; and “respect” for far-right lawmakers.
“Marine Le Pen gives this figure the kiss of death and then the person. There are 142 legislators in the national rally, you cannot ignore them,” Hervé Marcel, a centrist senator and Macron ally, said in an interview with Le Monde.
Although the national rally Parliamentary elections were lost which were tipped to win And having lost the chance to rule France, he has now emerged as the country’s kingmaker.
bad blood
Le Pen was the dominant figure in this week’s talks to choose the next prime minister.
The Whirlwinds seek a new leader Conservative heavyweight Xavier Bertrand emerged as the front-runner after a meeting on Tuesday in which centre-right lawmakers told Macron they would support the right-wing prime minister.
Macron called Le Pen later that afternoon, according to a government official who, like others quoted here, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
The two also discussed Bertrand’s candidacy and former socialist French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, an early front-runner whose prospects had faded by late Monday.
It’s unclear what was said between Le Pen and Macron, but she and Bertrand have bad blood. Bertrand once boasted that he had “Jaws Broke” To the far right in Le Pen’s northern stronghold, defeating her in the race to lead the Hauts-de-France region.
The national rally threatened an “immediate rejection” of the Bertrand government regardless of its policies, which a potential Macron could not afford. The left would have supported far-right efforts to torpedo Bertrand, bringing down his government before it could get off the ground.
And so, on Thursday, Bertrand was out and Barnier was in.
The question now is whether Barnier, who will also have to reconcile his center-right and centrist supporters, can satisfy the far right, which opposes budget cuts being proposed to fix France’s dire debt problems.
“Barnier appears to fulfill at least one criterion that we demanded, which is to be someone who will respect the various political forces and be able to speak to a national rally,” Le Pen said. “That would be useful, because resolving the budget situation would require a compromise.”
While the far right may still try to topple Barnier’s government, OpinionNow pollster Bruno Jeanbart said he might not want to precipitate another crisis.
“He has the future of the government in his hands, but I’m not sure it’s in his interest to topple the government too quickly,” Ginbert said.
“They can let things happen until the next presidential election,” he added, if they understand that “it is difficult to run a country without winning the presidential election.”
Unrest in Macron’s camp
Macron’s handling of the national rally has sparked unease in his camp. After dissolving parliament following the far-right’s dominant showing in June’s European elections, the French president campaigned to keep the extremists out of power in Paris. He has now handed him the sword of Damocles to hang over the next government.
A centrist lawmaker said Thursday’s developments were “not in line with the spirit of the Republican front,” a reference to the traditional agreement between mainstream parties that are far from power. The lawmaker said Barnier’s fate was effectively “held by a national rally.”
Another left-wing parliamentarian from Macron’s party blamed the left for failing to “think outside the box”. After initially squabbling internally, the new Popular Front fielded its own candidate, 37-year-old civil servant Lucy CassettsFor the job of Prime Minister, his insistence on finishing first earned him the right to be chosen.
Macron quickly rejected Castets’ candidacy in the name of institutional stability, predicting that he would not survive a vote of no confidence in the fractured National Assembly.
But Greens leader Marine Tondelier said Macron “went further and further to the right in search of a person” to satisfy the national rally and ensure he did not condemn the next government.
“They’re constantly resting to the right,” she said.
Sarah Pellou and Anthony Latier contributed reporting.
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