A nuance that is very important for the Élysée. After the appointment of the right-wing figure Michel Barnier as Prime Minister, the French presidency assures that the period that is opening is not a period of “cohabitation”, but of “demanding coexistence”, BFMTV learned this Thursday, September 5.
According to the Élysée, “the political situation and the parliamentary balances are different.” Before continuing: “Coexisting means living together, this is what the French have imposed on Parliament as well as in the executive.”
“A unifying government”
Sixty days after the second round of the legislative elections which did not result in an absolute majority, the Élysée had assured a little earlier in the day that Emmanuel Macron had “ensured that the Prime Minister and the future government would meet the conditions to be as stable as possible and give themselves the chance to unite the broadest possible support”.
Wanting to avoid as much as possible the risk of immediate censorship, the president instructed Michel Barnier “to form a unifying government in the service of the country and the French people”.
Unsurprisingly, the New Popular Front, which came out on top in terms of seats in the Assembly, announced that it would censure the Barnier government, as it would have done for Xavier Bertrand or Bernard Cazeneuve, both of whom were considered in recent days.
The RN, which could at any time bring down the future government with the NFP, remained more circumspect. It will “judge its general policy discourse on its merits,” declared the party’s president, Jordan Bardella.
LR leader Laurent Wauquiez judged for his part that Michel Barnier had “all the assets to succeed in this difficult mission entrusted to him”. Renaissance, Emmanuel Macron’s party, promised to make “substantive demands, without a blank check” but will not vote for “automatic censure”, Edouard Philippe (Horizons) assuring for his part “there will be many of us to help him”.
- BFMTV.com
