Two days after Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, thousands of French people are marching this Saturday in nearly 150 towns across France. Will the president address the French people in an attempt to regain control?
Protesters denounce a “coup de force” by Emmanuel Macron after the president appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. Thousands of French people are marching this Saturday, September 7 in the streets of nearly 150 municipalities, including Paris, Bordeaux and Marseille, to show their discontent. The mobilizations were organized at the call of youth organizations and student unions. The left had also called for demonstrations.
While Michel Barnier must form a new government, several members of the NFP have already announced that they refuse to work for the new tenant of Matignon. The socialist Karim Bouamrane, mayor of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), believes in particular that Michel Barnier has “the approval of the RN” on the set of France Info Saturday September 7. Jordan Bardella assured him that the National Rally is “unavoidable” in the new legislature. On BFMTV, the president of the far-right party declared: “Michel Barnier will have to integrate into the action that will be his the subjects that are those of the National Rally.”
Can President Emmanuel Macron calm the situation and regain control? It is not out of the question that the president will decide to speak directly to the French people in a speech, but nothing has been decided. For the head of state, the appointment of the Prime Minister is a considerable turning point in his second term, since it must mark the moment of a new governance, embodied by a different line from the one held for seven years with the support of the former presidential majority.
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The President initially indicated that he was entrusting the new Prime Minister with the task of forming a government capable of obtaining a majority of support in the Assembly, leaving him in charge and with the responsibility for this task. Michel Barnier will have to qualify this new governance himself, the words he chooses will be important. Cohabitation? Collaboration? Coalition governance? The President has entrusted the keys to Matignon to someone who will rely on several political parties, including those of the central bloc, Macronists, giving a singular character to the political sequel that is being prepared.