After three and a half months of political crisis in France, the expected presentation of a new government in Paris today does not indicate any stabilization of the situation. The center-right government formed by the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier has been under considerable pressure from the start. This is also due to the fact that the left-wing alliance that won the early parliamentary elections just over two months ago is unlikely to be represented in the new cabinet. The Left Party, trade unions and other organizations have therefore called for nationwide rallies today.
The coordinator of the Left Party, Manuel Bompard, spoke of a “denial of democracy that is completely unacceptable and intolerable” on the France Bleu Provence channel. “It is a government of losers that is continuing the course of the previous governments, even though they lost the last parliamentary elections, and that also includes ministers from the Republicans, even though they received less than six percent in the last parliamentary elections.” Green politician Sandrine Rousseau said that the voters of the Left Alliance were “cheated about the result of this election.”
Left alliance left out despite election victory
In the parliamentary election, the left-wing alliance came in ahead of the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing nationalists around Marine Le Pen. Neither camp received an absolute majority and no party managed to form a governing majority with partners.
After much hesitation, Macron appointed the conservative Barnier (73) as the new prime minister two weeks ago. The hope was that the former EU chief Brexit negotiator, with his negotiating skills and talent for compromise, would succeed in finding enough partners for an effective government. On Thursday evening, Barnier presented Macron with his personnel table. Due to “final adjustments”, as the government said, the presentation of the cabinet was then postponed from Friday to today.
According to media reports, of the 16 senior ministers in the future government, seven will come from Macron’s center camp, three from the conservative Republicans, one from a left-wing and one from a right-wing party, and the remaining four from center parties. All key positions will be filled, with only Sébastien Lecornu remaining in his post in the Ministry of Defense.
Vote of no confidence looms
According to the names circulating in the media, no top politicians known beyond France could be recruited for the ministerial posts. This could also be due to the fact that it is uncertain whether the government will remain in office for a long time and will not be overthrown immediately. A vote of no confidence could soon be threatened from both the left and the extreme right. According to media reports, a government statement by Barnier is planned for October 1.
The future government will definitely not have an absolute majority that can simply implement President Macron’s political plans. Depending on the government’s plans, Barnier may have to rely on the support of various partners and also on the tolerance of Marine le Pen’s right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National. Head of state Macron, who wanted to strengthen his position with the new elections, is weakened by this. Since he has the upper hand in foreign policy and has a pro-European prime minister at his side in Barnier, little is likely to change in terms of cooperation with Brussels and Berlin.
Mountain of debt weighs on start of new government
In domestic politics, the new government is facing a tough test with the budget for next year. The EU Commission is currently initiating an excessive deficit procedure against France due to excessive new debt. There is no way around drastic austerity measures in France, with its traditionally high public spending, and a dispute has already broken out between Barnier and the Macron camp over the question of possible tax increases.
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