Just 48 hours ago, LR senators were still struggling to imagine their good fortune. “If after getting 8% in the last legislative elections, we get an LR Prime Minister, it’s a jackpot for us,” whispered one of them, while the Xavier Bertrand lead was favored.
It was finally another candidate for the primary of the right for the last presidential election who was chosen by Emmanuel Macron. Michel Barnier, an experienced politician who has exercised practically all the national and international mandates over the last 50 years. Deputy, senator, minister, president of the general council, European deputy, European commissioner, Brexit negotiator.
It is this experience that is also praised by senators on the social network X. “Finally our country will have a Prime Minister who lives up to our ambitions! Passionate about his country, a man of experience appreciated in Europe” welcomed the LR senator, Valérie Boyer.
The LR senator from Manche, Philippe Bas, also paints a laudatory portrait of the new Prime Minister. “Michel Barnier has the qualities to govern France in the current political, financial and international context: political experience, negotiation skills, sense of national interest, European commitment, selflessness,” he writes on X.
Contacted by publicsenat.fr, the president of the Senate’s law commission, François-Noël Buffet, welcomed the choice of head of state. “The legislative elections have shown that France is ideologically right-wing. The French have indicated that they are waiting for authority, order, and an increase in their purchasing power,” he analyzed.
He also highlights the experience of the former Brexit negotiator. “In Europe, relations with our neighbors will be greatly facilitated. Michel Barnier is a Gaullist. And we also forget that he became aware of environmental issues very early on. And in our political family, it has not always been easy.” Let us recall that Michel Barnier was Minister of the Environment in the Balladur government and has written several books on the subject.
“He is thoughtful, calm, composed.”
“This nomination” represents a turning point. For two years, we have been living in a situation of constant tension and tension. We have the impression that no text can move forward because the political parties are tense against each other. Michel Barnier’s choice is that of a unifier and a negotiator. […] “He is thoughtful, calm, composed. He does not seek conflict to make people talk about him,” describes him as the LR senator for Hauts de Seine, Roger Karoutchi.
Paris Senator Catherine Dumas said on X that she was convinced “that under his leadership (Michel Barnier), we will be able to implement the reforms necessary to ensure the recovery of our country and strengthen our position within Europe and the world.”
“Certain reforms, on the regalian, the authority, the control of immigration and the purchasing power are priorities”
As reforms, the Republicans have recalled, in recent days, their conditions for their support for the future government, the application of the legislative pact presented in July (read our article) which is structured around three main axes: the restoration of authority, the reindustrialization of territories and the strengthening of local public services. “We may not have the possibility of doing everything. But certain reforms, on the regalian, authority, control of immigration and purchasing power are priorities”, maintains François-Noël Buffet.
The LR legislative pact intends, it is true, to tackle “uncontrolled immigration”, and takes up some of the measures of the immigration law censored by the Constitutional Council at the beginning of the year. During the LR primary campaign, Michel Barnier himself proposed a referendum and a moratorium on immigration by pleading to “no longer be subject to the rulings of the CJEU [Cour de Justice de l’UE, ndlr] or the ECHR [Cour européenne des droits de l’homme] “After the outcry caused by this resumption of the historical ideas of the National Front, Michel Barnier then mentioned a “constitutional shield” to rule out certain decisions, notably on immigration.
Is this the reason why the nomination of Michel Barnier did not lead to an outcry from the RN (read our article)? “As Marine Le Pen had very firmly opposed Xavier Bertrand […] It was difficult for her to say the same thing for another man on the right. But she reserves the right to censure the government based on the proposals. We will see at that time the attitude of the RN”, temporizes Roger Karoutchi. The fate of the next Barnier government is indeed in the hands of the National Rally. The parties of the New Popular Front have announced that they will vote for censure. All the RN would have to do is vote for it for the new executive to fall.
