POLICY – “Deleterious”, “contrary to the logic of institutions”, “very bad” democratic message… Lucie Castets reacted after the nomination this Thursday, September 5, of Michel Barnier, from the Republicans, to Matignon. A position that she claimed in the name of the New Popular Front but from which she was removed by the President of the Republic.
Michel Barnier Prime Minister: all these positions which could have tipped the balance in his favour
“I do not see to what extent Michel Barnier could implement significant improvements in the lives of the French in such a configuration. (…) I am very worried, both in substance and in form. The democratic message sent is very bad.”believes Lucie Castets in an interview with Mediapart.
At the same time, several voices have been raised against the anti-LGBT positions of Michel Barnier, who opposed the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1981. This is “a negative signal for all those who suffer this type of discrimination. (…). Michel Barnier, not only are these not new ideas, but they are reactionary ideas”says Lucie Castets, who said she is a mother, married to a woman.
At 73, Michel Barnier is an old hand of the right, minister on several occasions and notably under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, of whom he was also the political advisor. He was preferred by Emmanuel Macron to other profiles, the LR Xavier Bertrand and the ex-PS Bernard Cazeneuve, because he is more likely to avoid falling immediately via a motion of censure in the National Assembly.
Towards “the major markers of the RN”
But the choice of the President of the Republic is denounced as a “insult to the French people” by the left. The right is indeed one of the parties that lost the most seats in the legislative elections. Divided by Éric Ciotti’s decision to join the National Rally, the Republicans obtained only 5.41% of the votes cast and find themselves with a group of 47 deputies in the National Assembly. Much fewer than in 2022 and very far behind the National Rally, the left and Ensemble!
“This is a decision that goes against the logic of our institutions.”consider Lucie Castets and Emmanuel Macron “should have followed the institutional logic and appointed a prime minister from the camp that came out on top in the elections. The burden would have fallen to me to build agreements and if I had not succeeded, I would have fallen. That is the democratic game,” she emphasizes.
From now on, “The ingredients are there for the president’s policy to be continued, or even for it to further appropriate the major markers of the RN”worries the senior official, judging the whole thing ” “very harmful, while the French have said they want to turn their backs on the extreme right and its program in the early legislative elections” through the “Republican front”.
Also see on Le HuffPost :
Michel Barnier appointed Prime Minister: the oldest head of government of the Fifth Republic succeeds the youngest
Michel Barnier Prime Minister? These RN deputies don’t believe it and mock the proposal
