Can the Prime Minister resign before even forming his government? The hypothesis is seriously on the table.
A resignation, a resounding failure at the top of the State and a definitive political retirement? Michel Barnier does not exclude the scenario, if we are to believe some of his close associates, who are now discussing the hypothesis with political journalists. A way of leaking a form of ultimatum and putting pressure on his interlocutors from LR and the parties of the former presidential majority.
Let’s summarize things in order to agree that the departure of the Prime Minister is an option that is entirely under consideration. Michel Barnier agreed to form a government two weeks ago, but the disagreements between the political parties that are required to work together are probably stronger than he imagined. It must be said that the LR leaders, noting their position of strength and the line taken with the appointment of Michel Barnier, are pushing to obtain the majority of the top positions: the Interior, Justice, Economy and Finance, National Education. The LR party leaders want to embody a break with Macronism. Except that the executives of the central bloc parties, Macronists and allies, consider that having three times as many deputies, they must remain at the center of the game and keep control over the major political directions.
No one agrees. A tax increase to deal with the deterioration of the public debt? “Out of the question”, replied the EPR deputies. A new law or new measures to regulate immigration more firmly? The Macronist left wing and the MoDem are indignant. But in the absence of concessions, LR will refuse to participate in the Barnier government, to avoid being seen as the crutch of a remodeled Macronism. It is an impasse.
This Thursday afternoon, Michel Barnier decided to summon to Matignon the leaders of all the parties called upon to support his government so that all the blockages are lifted. “Today is the last chance, otherwise Michel will resign. He will realize that the personal agendas of some and others prevent him from forming a government serenely. If that is the case, there is a strong chance that he will make an 8 p.m. this evening to leave”, confided a collaborator of the Matignon tenant to France Television“The idea is the consultation of the last chance, to tell Macron, if it doesn’t pass, it doesn’t pass. Take it or leave it,” adds an LR source. with Public Senate.
Has resignation been seriously discussed by Michel Barnier with Emmanuel Macron as an ultimatum? It is not impossible, if the Prime Minister wants to play fair. For the former minister of Jacques Chirac, things are starting to look like this: if he manages to put together a ministerial team that ensures him independence and control over the line he intends to take, then he will stay at Matignon.
If he fails, he will leave his post and will be able to call public opinion to witness: the blockages are not his fault. Emmanuel Macron will therefore have to assume having refused to appoint the ministers proposed by his Prime Minister. He will then be considered the main person responsible for the crisis which would take the form of an earthquake and political chaos. The head of state should therefore find an agreement to save face and demonstrate his ability to accept consensus. But the fact that rumors of resignation, used as a means of pressure on the Elysée, is already a form of setback for the president, for whom the sequence has been turning into a fiasco for several months.