After 10 days of consultations, Michel Barnier must call or meet his potential ministers this weekend with a view to announcing the new government “next week”, he said a few days ago.
The essentials
- This Saturday, nine days after his appointment to Matignon, Michel Barnier officially became the Prime Minister who took the longest to announce the composition of his government under the Fifth Republic, underlines The Obs. But the long-awaited big moment should not be long in coming, with the Prime Minister having promised an announcement “next week”.
- This weekend, Michel Barnier is due to call and meet with his potential future ministers and define their scope of action, report BFMTV and Politico.
- Who will form the next government? If from the beginning there has been talk of a “rallying” government, with the presidential coalition, Les Républicains, from which Michel Barnier comes, are well placed to obtain between a quarter and a third of the ministries, including at least one regalian. Bruno Retailleau and Laurent Wauquiez are expected to be in charge of the Interior, Justice or Economy. Education could be entrusted to Annie Genevard. On the side of the resigning, Rachida Dati, mentioned as spokesperson, Catherine Vautrin, Aurore Bergé, Sébastien Lecornu or Gérald Darmanin could be reappointed, but not necessarily to their ministry. As for the left, the NFP has already made it known that none of its members would join the government. However, The Point claims that Hubert Védrine is in the running for the Quai d’Orsay and the former Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, has been offered the Ministry of Defense.
Live
09:44 – Since the Fête de l’Humanité, the NFP has shown its unity
While they have stated that none of their members will be part of the next Barnier government, the four leaders of the parties that make up the left-wing coalition are expected in Brétigny-sur-Orge (Essonne), this Saturday, where the Fête de l’Humanité is being held. Present on Friday evening at the event, their unsuccessful candidate for Matignon called for the New Popular Front “continues to exist”. And Lucie Castets insists: “It does not depend only on me, but I will put all my energy into ensuring that it continues.”
09:21 – Michel Barnier already breaks a first record with his government
This Saturday, the man who was appointed on September 5 to take Gabriel Attal’s place at Matignon, officially became the Prime Minister who took the longest to choose his ministers, notes The Obs. While he said that the announcement would be made “next week”, he has been in office for nine days and has therefore been able to start forming his government, one more than the previous record set in 1962 by the second Pompidou government.
09/13/24 – 11:40 PM – Michel Barnier to contact possible future ministers this weekend
END OF LIVE – According to Michel Barnier’s entourage, he will call potential future ministers this weekend, reports BFMTV. The Prime Minister will also use these two days to define the scope of the ministries. On September 11, the Matignon tenant had assured that a new government would be named “next week”.
09/13/24 – 10:50 p.m. – LFI joins the call to demonstrate on September 21 against Emmanuel Macron and Michel Barnier
Earlier in the day, youth, environmental and feminist organisations called for a new day of protest on Saturday 21 September. La France Insoumise joined this call against Emmanuel Macron and Michel Barnier, reports BFMTV.
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As Prime Minister, Michel Barnier is now responsible for appointing a “unifying” government, according to the Elysée Palace’s statement in its press release of September 5. A mission that promises to be difficult, because the new occupant of Matignon is not unanimous. While he pleases the right and a large part of the presidential coalition, his profile, considered too right-wing, makes the left wing of Macronie skeptical and arouses the anger of the forces of the New Popular Front (NFP), who are already promising to censure him. As for the National Rally (RN), it assures that it judges Michel Barnier’s government and future policy “on the basis of evidence” by not voting for a motion of censure automatically, but by reserving the right to do so in the event of dissatisfaction. This position of arbiter occupied by the RN further reinforces the rejection of Michel Barnier by the left, which points to connections between Emmanuel Macron and the extreme right.
Who can be appointed minister?
The Barnier government must, according to the wishes of the Prime Minister, represent the different political parties from the right to the left. “We must open the door and open the table to those who want it” he declared on Friday, September 6 during his first consultations. But the first exchanges of the Matignon tenant are mainly with the right of the Les Républicains (LR) party and the presidential coalition. According to his advisors, Michel Barnier is also talking with the left but they do not specify with whom. The fact remains that there are more volunteers to become ministers on the right and in the center than on the left where many names have closed the door.
► LR ministerial candidates
Many are cited as volunteers or as possible options. Two names come up with more insistence: that of Bruno Retailleauthe president of the LR senator group, and that of Laurent Wauquiezpresident of the LR group in the Assembly. Both are said to be considered for the Interior, but their very right-wing profile would worry part of Macron’s party. Also according to Le Point, the former director general of the national police, Frederic Pechenardwould be added to the list of options. Note that the two LRs are also mentioned for the Economy or Justice.
Other names are also mentioned: Annie Genevard (general secretary of LR) for National Education, Olivier Marleix (former president of the LR group in the Assembly), Philippe Juvin (MP for Hauts-de-Seine) who is mentioned at each reshuffle for the Ministry of Health, David Lisnard (Mayor of Cannes and President of the Association of Mayors of France) and Xavier Bertrand (president of Hauts-de-France) once considered for Matignon, Virginie Duby-Muller (deputy for Savoy), François Cornut-Gentille (former MP and close to the Prime Minister) or even Julien Dive (MP for Aisne). The former LR member known for being the figure of a more social right Aurelien Pradié is also mentioned by The Point.
► The ministerial candidates of the presidential coalition (Renaissance, MoDem, Horizons)
The appointment of Michel Barnier as head of government was welcomed by elected officials from the pro-Philippe Horizons party, as well as by part of the MoDem. Both parties hope to see some of their own appointed ministers, some are even convinced of this, like the MoDem MP for Loiret Richard Ramos, who assured BFMTV that his party “will return to government”. If no specific names of MoDem elected officials are circulating, those of the Philippists Naima Moutchou And Claude Malhuret are advanced by The Point. Within Emmanuel Macron’s party, Michel Barnier’s choice divides the left wing and the right wing and this is felt at the level of volunteers. The Macronists from the left, if they are not closed, will be more difficult to convince. When others like Karl Olive (deputy for Yvelines) say they are volunteers.
► Ministers who could be reappointed
Within the presidential party, it is on the side of the resigning ministers that there are the most volunteers to be appointed ministers in a Barnier government. Here again, it is those who have a more or less distant past with the right who are in the front line: Catherine Vautrin (Work, Health and Solidarity) or Aurore Bergé (Equality between men and women). There are also those who, in addition to being volunteers, are also supported by the Head of State, such as Rachida Dati (Culture) which is mentioned for the spokesperson or Sebastien Lecornu (Defense) and Gerald Darmanin (Interior). The last two could land (or remain) at the head of the ministries falling under the reserved domain of the President of the Republic: Sébastien Lecornu would therefore be likely to be kept in his functions and Gérald Darmanin could move to the Quai d’Orsay to take care of Foreign Affairs according to several sources. But their retention is not so certain because, according to Le Point, Defense was proposed, and declined, by Elisabeth Borne, while for the Quai d’Orsay, the man on the left Hubert Vedrine would be in the running.
Fewer in number, some ministers with no ties to the right also wish to remain, like Guillaume Kasbarian (Housing) and Nicole Belloubet (Education). Then, there are the ministers who are about to leave and who refuse to take part in the Barnier government if it is to be under the leadership of the RN as indicated by Roland Lescure (Industry) or out of concern for respect for the French people who have asked for a political change according to Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Agriculture and food sovereignty).
► Potential ministers from the left
The casting of future ministers will be more difficult on the left and for good reason: the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF) and the Ecologists have all refused, through their respective leaders, to participate in a Barnier government. The members of La France insoumise (LFI) share the same position, but should not be asked to join the government unless there is a surprise. Several refusals have also been expressed by socialists who are resistant to the NFP such as Hélène Geoffroy (mayor of Vaulx-en-Velin) or Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol (mayor of Rouen). The Prime Minister has however had discussions with the left and is planning others, but it is personalities outside the aforementioned parties who are being approached or former ministers who are no longer in the front line. Bernard Cazeneuve, former candidate for Matignon, was approached but refused any nomination. The hypotheses Jean-Marc Ayrault And Manuel Valls are under study according to Politico.
The ministerial candidates from the left could have more technical profiles, more than political ones. The president of the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP) and former socialist deputy, Didier Migaud, also tipped for Matignon before the appointment of Michel Barnier, was approached to become Minister of the Economy according to PoliticoBut the hypothesis would be undermined by the conditions set by the candidate at Bercy.
When will the Barnier government be appointed?
The appointment of the government is expected during the week of September 16, according to the deadline set by Michel Barnier during his trip to Reims, at the Horizons parliamentary day, on Wednesday, September 11. The Prime Minister, if he sticks to the dates set, will have taken between 10 days and two weeks to form his government, after numerous consultations. “Forming a government under these conditions will require a lot of thought” and may “take some time,” explained the president of the Horizons group in the National Assembly, Laurent Marcangeli, on Public Sénat on September 10.
Michel Barnier has no choice but to appoint the government in the coming days or at least before the end of the month. And for good reason, Michel Barnier has planned to deliver his general policy speech “at the beginning of October”, and his government will have to be appointed before his speech before the Assembly. The vote on the 2025 budget is also an absolute emergency for Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a fractured Assembly. The finance bill must be tabled by October 1 at the latest, which obliges Michel Barnier to accelerate on this issue and de facto, on the composition of his government.