In the blessed time of the absolute majority. How easy it was for a Prime Minister to lead his government, himself supported by an army of docile deputies. It went straight and made little noise! Jean-Pierre Chevènement had theorized this verticality, specific to the Fifth Republic. “A minister, he shuts up, he shouts or he resigns.”
But that was before this precarious government coalition, where personalities with very relative ideological connections coexist. Where ministers do not intend to sacrifice their ideas in the name of sacrosanct government solidarity. Why on earth should we show solidarity with colleagues who will soon be challenged at the ballot box? For Michel Barnier, management will definitely be elevated to the rank of art.
The first lessons were not long in coming. The one who asked his flock on Monday to “act more than communicate” and avoid “bluffing” was not really listened to. Here is the Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand decreeing Tuesday on France Inter his refusal to receive the National Rally at Bercy to discuss public finances. This was followed by a regulatory phone call from Michel Barnier to the minister, followed by a backpedaling press release from the person concerned. Classic. What happened next was out of the ordinary. Several deputies from Ensemble pour la République (EPR) rushed to the aid of Antoine Armand, guilty of having rejected the RN out of the republican arc.
“Barnier’s authority will be challenged”
The irritation turns into a revolt when it is revealed that Michel Barnier made a phone call to Marine Le Pen to calm things down. Even right-wing MPs raise their eyebrows at such imprudence. “The refocusing was enough, he didn’t have to call Le Pen,” snaps one elected official. “Needing to reassure her is shocking,” says another, who is nevertheless critical of the Bercy tenant’s exit.
And Macronie invented the reframing of the reframing. It innovates with all the more ease because it hardly feels bound by the declarations of the Prime Minister, a simple choice of Emmanuel Macron. It owes nothing to this man, its freedom of tone is total. “Because of the composition of the government, Barnier’s authority will be called into question morning, noon and night”, already anticipates a Horizons executive.
Michel Barnier does not have an easy task. The Prime Minister must impose his authority, or risk eroding his own legitimacy. “A question of survival,” notes a ministerial advisor. But he must do it with tact, at the risk of setting fire to a wooden house. The ideological tone of each reframing is scrutinized and can irritate a fringe of the coalition. Thus, the head of government is for the time being keeping his distance from the war of words between Bruno Retailleau and Didier Migaud. The LR Minister of the Interior is already targeting “the non-execution of sentences”, when the Minister of Justice, from the Socialist Party, reminds him of the principle of the independence of justice.
Dilution of the crop
Power has never been so diluted under the Fifth Republic. This dilution also affects the exercise of reframing. Here is the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher warning Bruno Retailleau about the elimination of State Medical Aid, a measure that is “not acceptable”. In this baroque harness, everyone wants to preserve their doctrinal purity and stay in their swimming lane. “Shut your mouth”, isn’t that already acquiescence?
The deputies are also ready to draw their whips. The head of the EPR group in the Assembly, Gabriel Attal, wants the EPR ministers to now attend the group’s weekly meetings. Laurent Wauquiez is demanding that the government “break” with the past years. “This government derives its legitimacy from its parliamentary base. If it is exceeded, it loses its legitimacy,” notes an EPR deputy. Authority is also exercised from the bottom up. A Prime Minister with fragile authority, deputies who are almost order-givers… Between Matignon and the Palais Bourbon, will there soon be group management courses?
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