“Stolen election” for Mélenchon, “all the assets to succeed” according to Wauquiez

Brexit negotiator, former minister, organizer of the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992: Michel Barnier, 73 years old and a figure of the right, was appointed Prime Minister on Thursday, September 5 by Emmanuel Macron. In a political landscape more fragmented than ever, this decision has provoked strong reactions. Starting with the left, where all the leaders denounce an appointment incompatible in their opinion with the result of the legislative elections which placed the New Popular Front in the lead.

“The election was stolen from the French”denounced Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Evoking “a prime minister who is appointed with the permission and perhaps on the suggestion of the National Rally”the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) calls, in a video posted on social networks, “to the most powerful mobilization possible” Saturday, during the demonstration against what LFI and high school and student unions are calling the “coup de force” Emmanuel Macron, namely his refusal to appoint the candidate of the left-wing coalition, Lucie Castets, to Matignon. “After fifty-two days of a government defeated at the polls, [Emmanuel] Macron continues to see himself as an autocrat”, added Mathilde Panot, the leader of the “insoumis” deputies, who believes that “The president refuses to respect popular sovereignty and the choice made at the ballot box.”

The national secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Olivier Faure, describes, for his part, on the social network X a “democratic denial at its peak: a prime minister from the party that came in fourth place and who did not even participate in the republican front” against the extreme right. In his eyes, France is between “in a regime crisis.” The PS, in a press release, declared that Emmanuel Macron “tramples on the vote of French women and men” and let it be known that he « censor » the government of Michel Barnier – which however requires the adoption of a motion of censure by an absolute majority of deputies.

For Fabien Roussel, “a middle finger”

Similar disappointment on the part of Marine Tondelier. “Who are we kidding? This is a real scandal”, considered the leader of the Ecologists in a video published on X. According to her, “what just happened in France for sixty days (…)if it had happened anywhere in Europe, we would have found it deplorable from a democratic point of view”. “This unprecedented story is taking an extremely worrying turn”, she continued.

For the former deputy of the North Fabien Roussel, the appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon is “a middle finger to the French who aspire to change.” “Liberal, pro-European, anti-social, [Michel] Barnier is the opposite of the message sent by the French in the legislative elections”reacted the national secretary of the Communist Party on X.

For their part, the leader of the National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, and the president of the RN group in the National Assembly, Marine Le Pen, assured that their party would judge Michel Barnier on his “general policy speech” before deciding on possible censorship. “We will plead for the major emergencies of the French, purchasing power, security, immigration, to finally be dealt with, and we reserve all political means of action if this is not the case in the coming weeks.”Jordan Bardella said on X.

Michel Barnier “seems to meet at least the first criterion that we had requested, that is to say a man who is respectful of the different political forces and capable of addressing the National Rally, which is the first group in the National Assembly, in the same way as the other groups”declared Marine Le Pen on LCI.

In the central bloc, the Macronist party, Renaissance, announced on X that it intends to present its “programmatic priorities” to the new tenant of Matignon and will not vote for “automatic censorship” against the new government he is to form. For Renaissance, the president has “fulfilled its constitutional role” with a view to a “stable government”. “We must now unite to succeed (…). The deputies will play their full part and will know how to assume their responsibilities.”reacted, for her part, on X Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly and member of the Macronist political group.

Renaud Muselier (Renaissance), the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, congratulated Michel Barnier. “We need a national safeguard government, and everything must be done to make it successful. The national interest, the responsibility, is to help it and make ourselves available to make our contributions.he stressed on X. Michel Barnier has the values ​​that are needed in such circumstances: those of a Gaullist and unifying right. Rejection of the extremes and the incompetent. Consistency, work and great experience.

Olivier Marleix’s “total confidence”

Edouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron’s former prime minister who announced his candidacy for the next presidential election on Tuesday, also reacted to Mr Barnier’s nomination. “His task is going to be tough, but difficulty has never scared him. And there will be many of us to help him.”he wrote on X.

On the right, Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the Republican Right deputies, said he was very enthusiastic on XM Barnier “is a man of great quality who has all the assets to succeed in this difficult mission entrusted to him”he wrote. Also satisfied for Olivier Marleix, vice-president of the Republicans party (LR), who expressed his “total confidence” on the same network. As for Valérie Pécresse (LR), the president of the Ile-de-France region, judged on X that the new tenant of Matignon “must find a parliamentary path to be able to restore order in [les] accounts [de l’Etat], [aux] borders and in [les] streets [de France] ».

The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, also congratulated on X this Brussels connoisseur who was successively an MEP, European Commissioner and responsible for negotiating with London the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. “I know that Michel Barnier has the interests of Europe and France at heart, as his long experience demonstrates,” she wrote.