Michel Barnier has pledged to make “changes” after French President Emmanuel Macron appointed him prime minister to form a government in the hope of pulling his country out of its political stalemate.
“We must, as much as possible, rise to the challenges and respond to the anger, the suffering, the feeling of neglect and injustice,” Barnier said as he took office, listing school education, security, immigration, work and purchasing power among his priorities. He also promised to “tell the truth” about France’s “financial and ecological debt”.
After a 60-day wait following early legislative elections in July that left a fragmented National Assembly, Barnier, the 73-year-old European Commissioner and former right-wing minister, became the oldest prime minister in modern French history.
Barnier succeeds Gabriel Attal (35 years old), who was the youngest French prime minister in the Fifth Republic.
Barnier has extensive experience in France and the European Union and is known as a seasoned mediator, having been the EU’s chief negotiator during the UK’s departure from the bloc. Before that, he held several ministerial posts from 1993, notably under right-wing presidents Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.
After weeks of consultations and procrastination, Emmanuel Macron tasked him with “forming an inclusive government,” the presidency announced.
– Withhold confidence
But the new prime minister, whose appointment is opposed by the left-wing camp, must show all his diplomatic skills to be able to form a government capable of escaping the motions of no confidence in parliament and ending the most serious political crisis in the history of the French Fifth Republic.
This task seems almost impossible after the elections produced a left-wing coalition at the forefront of political forces in France, but without obtaining an explicit majority in parliament.
Today, the National Assembly (the lower house of the French parliament) is divided between three blocs: the New Popular Front coalition, which brings together left-wing parties and has more than 190 seats, followed by the presidential camp, which won 160 seats, and the far-right National Rally, which has 140 seats.
None of the blocs won an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat parliament.
Barnier pledged to work with “all those of good will” to bring more respect and unity to a politically divided country.
“The French… today need… and have expressed their need… for respect, unity and compromise,” Barnier said in his first speech since his appointment, standing in the courtyard of the Palais Matignon, the prime minister’s residence, next to his predecessor, Gabriel Attal.
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