THaving just been appointed to Matignon, Michel Barnier is facing crossfire on Saturday from the left, which has called for demonstrations in dozens of towns to denounce “a coup de force”, and from the National Rally, which says it is placing the new Prime Minister “under surveillance”.
Baptism of fire: while he is due to make his first trip as head of government early this afternoon, Michel Barnier is already having to deal with demonstrations called by La France Insoumise, particularly in Paris where a procession set off from the Place de la Bastille at around 2:30 p.m.
The anger expressed is first directed against Emmanuel Macron and his “democratic coup”, according to the words of the initiators of the march, furious at not seeing Lucie Castets, candidate of a united left with 193 deputies, appointed to Matignon.
Two months after the early legislative elections, “the election was stolen”, assures the rebellious patriarch Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who urges a strong mobilization on the approximately “150 points across France” claimed by the organizers.
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The choice of Michel Barnier, from the right, strengthened the determination of the demonstrators, even if the police only anticipated a limited turnout (between 4,000 and 8,000 people in Paris). “We see that a pact has been sealed between Macron’s party, the right and the far right,” fumed LFI MP Aurélie Trouvé at the start of the march in the capital, while chants of “Macron resign” rang out in the crowd.
And if Mr Barnier indicated on Friday evening that he was ready to work with the left, “no one is fooled”, added Ms Trouvé, who did not appreciate the firm speech on immigration from the Matignon resident, judging that he was repeating “what the extreme right has always said”.
The initiative, launched at the end of August by two student and high school unions and then taken over by LFI, is part of a broader protest strategy by the Insoumis who have also filed a procedure to impeach the president in the Assembly.
But the Mélenchonist troops are struggling to gain support on the left: like the major trade unions, the PS did not relay the call to demonstrate on Saturday; and only six elected ecologists and three overseas representatives have initialed, in addition to the LFI deputies, the proposal for dismissal.
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A “fragile” government?
But the pressure did not come only from the left on Saturday. The president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella, visiting the Chalons-en-Champagne fair, demanded of Mr Barnier that “the subjects of the National Rally” be taken into account by a future government labelled as “fragile”.
“I hope that the Prime Minister and the future government can not only get to work, but that they can be attentive to the demands that are now ours. And I believe that from this day on, Mr Barnier is a Prime Minister under surveillance (…) of a political party that is now essential in the parliamentary game,” he added.
If the RN has until now made it known that it would judge Mr. Barnier “on the evidence”, and did not intend to try to overthrow him in the Assembly before knowing the content of his program, the tone has hardened, the party with the flame capitalizing on its contingent of 126 deputies (142 with the allies of Eric Ciotti). “We will undoubtedly have an arbitrator role in the coming months and starting today”, recalled the leader of the RN.
Mr. Barnier, meanwhile, is continuing his installation at Matignon, where he received his predecessor Elisabeth Borne on Saturday morning, before having lunch at the National Assembly with President Yaël Braun-Pivet. At stake are the government casting but also – and above all – the development of his roadmap for the coming weeks, a highly perilous exercise given the fragmentation of the Assembly.
The Prime Minister has booked his first trip to the Paris Samu to Necker Hospital, where he will “listen” to the staff, his entourage announced. Expected at around 3:00 p.m. on site, he will notably participate in a round table with health personnel, a topic that is dear to him, before addressing the press at the end of his visit.
