France: Macron Names Michel Barnier as New Prime Minister

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Facts

  • French Pres. Emmanuel Macron on Thursday appointed Michel Barnier of the conservative Les Républicains party to replace Gabriel Attal as prime minister, in an attempt to break the longest political deadlock in the history of the country's Fifth Republic.[1][2]
  • Aged 73, Barnier is a veteran politician who has served as French foreign minister, European commissioner in Brussels, and EU Brexit negotiator during his half-century political career.[3]
  • The oldest premier in the history of modern France will now have to form a government that can survive no-confidence votes in the three-way hung National Assembly. If successful, his next challenge will be to submit a draft budget by Oct. 1.[4][5][6]
  • While the leftist New Popular Front coalition — the largest grouping in the lower house — has announced its support for motions against Barnier, Marine Le Pen's right-wing National Rally has emerged as kingmaker.[7][8]
  • According to a government official who spoke to POLITICO on condition of anonymity, Macron met with Le Pen on Tuesday to discuss the names of center-right Xavier Bertrand and former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.[7]
  • This comes as Macron faces mounting pressure, with at least 81 lawmakers from the New Popular Front signing a motion to impeach him while a report from Europe 1 suggests that theories concerning Macron potentially resigning are gaining traction.[9][5]

Sources: [1]Wsj, [2]New York Times, [3]France 24, [4]BBC News, [5]Economist, [6]Reuters, [7]POLITICO, [8]Guardian and [9]The European Conservative.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Le Monde.fr. France has been struggling to find a way out of this political crisis, so there's no better name to take over as prime minister than Michel Barnier. Despite being little known in his own country, his proven negotiating skills and long experience in building consensus in Brussels will be key in dealing with a fractured National Assembly.
  • Right narrative, as provided by Spectator (UK). Macron's centrists and the French left joined forces in the snap elections to try to prevent the victory of the National Rally, but to no avail. Now that Barnier has been appointed as prime minister, it's clear that Le Pen's right-wing party is the political grouping that will need to be satisfied if the president really wants to ensure stability.
  • Left narrative, as provided by Peoplesdispatch. It's utterly unacceptable that Macron has decided to go over the heads of the popular vote and appoint the conservative Michel Barnier with the support of the far-right, despite the left-progressive New Popular Front emerging as the clear winner in the latest snap elections. Yet again, Macron has shown his blatant disregard for democracy.

Predictions