Having just been appointed to Matignon, where he promised “changes and ruptures”, the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier must now set about forming a government capable of demonstrating its ability to unite and free itself from Emmanuel Macron.
Key information to remember
⇒ Castets: “I am very angry”
⇒ Michel Barnier will receive Gabriel Attal then the LR
⇒ Barnier: “sectarianism” is “proof of weakness”
Castets: “I am very angry”
Invited to the RTL morning show, the candidate of the New Popular Front criticized the nomination of Michel Barnier. “I am very angry, it is a betrayal. The President of the Republic is placing himself in cohabitation with the National Rally. We will censure the Barnier government,” she said.
Numerous contacts with political leaders
Without waiting, Michel Barnier made numerous phone calls even before taking office, according to his entourage: Edouard Philippe, François Bayrou, Laurent Wauquiez, but also Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet and that of the Senate Gérard Larcher.
In search of his ministers
The new tenant of Matignon has his own criteria. “He wants strong, competent and efficient ministers,” his entourage indicates, and “he will have the freedom” to choose them. Just like for his chief of staff, an eminently strategic position: “It will be Mr. Barnier alone and himself who will decide.”
As if to better mark his distance from the head of state, “neither meeting nor dinner” was planned for Thursday evening between the two men. However, they will have to resume talks quickly to validate the government casting and close a high-risk 2025 budget. And invent an unprecedented relationship, not of cohabitation but of “demanding coexistence”, according to the president’s entourage.
He will receive Attal then the LR
From Friday, he will receive at 9:00 a.m. his predecessor Gabriel Attal, president of the Macronist group Ensemble pour la République (EPR) in the Assembly, then at 10:15 a.m. the leaders of his own party, Les Républicains (LR), to examine the conditions for participation in his future team.
“Certain left-wing figures” were also contacted and other discussions were to follow, including with France Insoumise and the National Rally, because “he wants to bring everyone together and respect them.”
Barnier: “sectarianism” is “proof of weakness”
The new Prime Minister himself offered a few hints in his first speech: “We will need to listen a lot” and “respect for all the political forces that are represented” in Parliament. Because from his point of view “sectarianism is a sign of weakness, when you are sectarian it is because you are not sure of your ideas”.
His priorities
His priorities have yet to be specified. He has simply assured that “school will remain the government’s priority”, as well as other projects including “access to public services”, “daily security”, “controlling immigration”, or even work and purchasing power.
A roadmap that is a priori consensual, even if Michel Barnier promised “changes and ruptures” and hinted at difficult choices with the stated desire to “tell the truth” about “financial and ecological debt”.
Those who do not want to participate in a Barnier government
It remains to be seen who will agree to come on board. Not the RN, which “will not participate” in the Barnier government but has “set conditions”, said Marine Le Pen, whose 126 deputies hold the key to a possible censure.
Not the left either, who from Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Carole Delga immediately castigated this “Prime Minister appointed with the permission of the RN” and de facto “in the hands of the far-right parliamentary groups”. Which reinforces LFI in its impeachment process initiated against Emmanuel Macron, coupled with calls to demonstrate in several cities on Saturday.
Those who are willing to “help” him
So there remain the members of the former majority, who will be “many to help” the new Prime Minister, according to one of his predecessors Edouard Philippe. Not really ideal, however, to embody the announced “ruptures”. Michel Barnier, still a member of the Republicans (LR), can also count on his political family. “He is someone from our country, we will be able to engage in dialogue with him easily”, rejoices the secretary general of the right-wing party, Annie Genevard.
The deputies of the centrist Liot group (Liberties, Independents, Overseas, Territories) also show goodwill towards this “politician with strong experience” who “partly corresponds to the profile” they wanted, provided that “the composition of the future government and (its) orientations mark a change of methods and direction”.