Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. Which parties have given their support to the new head of government, and which have pledged to censure him? We take stock.
All summer, the various parties in the National Assembly have threatened to file a motion of censure against the candidates for the post of Prime Minister, whether it be Lucie Castets, Xavier Bertrand or Bernard Cazeneuve. Now that Michel Barnier, from the right, has been appointed to Matignon by Emmanuel Macron, what is the situation?
“Denial of democracy”, “Macron-Le Pen government”. The New Popular Front has announced its intention to file a motion of censure against the Michel Barnier government as soon as the Prime Minister is appointed on Thursday, September 5. “The President has deliberately chosen to turn his back on the logic of our institutions by refusing to appoint the coalition that came out on top,” writes the left-wing alliance in a press release posted on X. The NFP also criticizes the appointment of a head of government from a party that came fourth in the July legislative elections, with only 5.41% of the votes and 47 seats in the Assembly. And adds: “The President of the Republic has chosen to appoint a Prime Minister dependent on the support of the National Rally.”
The far-right party had indeed threatened to censure any government that did not suit them. If the RN elected representatives vote for the left’s motion of censure, the latter would be crowned with success. Indeed, for the motion to be adopted, an absolute majority of elected representatives must vote in favor of it, i.e. at least 289. This vote could take place as soon as the parliamentary session resumes, i.e. at the latest on October 1, and forty-eight hours after the submission of the motion of censure. With the 190 seats of the NFP and the 126 of the RN, the two parties could counter the new government.
A candidate who can “address the RN” as well as the other parties
Is this scenario likely? Nothing is less certain. The RN has indicated that it wants to “judge on the facts” the policy led by Michel Barnier. Marine Le Pen, president of the group in the National Assembly, said she was “ready to wait” for the Prime Minister’s first speech before making a decision on the motion of censure. “The appointment of Michel Barnier seems to meet at least the first criterion that we had requested, that is to say a man who is respectful of the different political forces and who is capable of being able to address the RN […] in the same way as other groups,” she said Thursday.
Can the NFP motion gain the support of other political groups to pass? Here again, nothing is less certain. The second force present in the National Assembly is the presidential coalition. The Renaissance party congratulated the new Prime Minister on taking office, as did Marc Fesneau, president of the Les Démocrates group, as well as the Horizon party. The party declared on X that there “will be no automatic censure” on its part, but no “blank checks” either if its demands are not heard. The chances for the 166 deputies of the presidential camp to commit themselves against Michel Barnier are nevertheless reduced. The party Les Républicains remains, from which Michel Barnier comes. And Laurent Wauquiez, elected president of the group in the National Assembly in July, also congratulated a “man of great quality”. The LR party, for its part, has no reason to censure Michel Barnier. Barring any disagreements within the various parties on the right and in the centre, the NFP motion therefore has little chance of succeeding.