Will it go? Will it not go? The composition of the government is certainly “not on the agenda” declared the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Thursday, September 5, the day of his appointment, but speculations about which personalities will be part of it have already begun.
“It will not be just a right-wing government as I hear here and there,” assured the head of government on TF1 on Friday. “There will be people from my political family. There will naturally be men and women of good will who belong to the outgoing majority and beyond.”
Including “people from the left”, he said, because “there are good ideas everywhere, we have to go and find them everywhere”. But Olivier Faure had already given him a firm refusal earlier in the day: “no PS personality will join” this new executive, assured the First Secretary of the Socialist Party on France Inter.
Macron wants to keep Lecornu and Dati
Michel Barnier mentions the possible presence of ministers from the Attal government. Some of them have indeed expressed the wish to remain in their posts under the new Barnier era. According to information from BFMTV, Emmanuel Macron is pushing to keep at least two of them: Sebastien Lecornu et Rachida Data.
Although the Élysée has hammered home its desire to “cut the cord with Matignon”, the President of the Republic retains some preferences. Particularly concerning the Ministry of the Armed Forces. On the complex and essential subject of defense, Emmanuel Macron believes that it is better to keep Sébastien Lecornu, in office since May 2022.
According to our information, the Minister of Culture also enjoys the favor of the Head of State. After being appointed to general surprise in January 2024, the mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris for more than 15 years “took her risk,” considers the President of the Republic.
He also needs her to face the left in anticipation of 2026. The current resigning Minister of Culture is Anne Hidalgo’s number 1 adversary in the capital.
When this former Sarkozy supporter was appointed to the Rue de Valois, the opposition saw it as a strategy by Emmanuel Macron to broaden the electorate of the future candidate and pointed to a “pact” between the president and Rachida Dati in order to present a single Renaissance-Les Républicains candidacy in the municipal elections.
Catherine Vautrin, a great acquaintance of the new Prime Minister, and Gérald Darmanin could also stay. Without certainty of whether they will remain in their posts or not. According to a source close to Emmanuel Macron on BFMTV, Gérald Darmanin was mentioned at Foreign Affairs – but the latter had assured before the legislative elections on BFM Grand Lille that he wanted to “leave the government and sit in the Assembly”.
Michel Barnier has every intention of forming his new government himself. There was no tacit agreement with Emmanuel Macron on this, the entourage of the new occupant of Matignon assures us.
Ministers who would like to stay
Others do not yet know whether they should definitely pack their boxes and would like to continue. Thus, the Minister of National Education and Youth, Nicole Belloubet, stated that she “wants” to continue to occupy her place on rue de Grenelle, during her press conference for the start of the 2024 school year.
On our channel, this Friday, September 6 in the morning, the resigning Minister of Housing, Guillaume Kasbarian, explained his “positive support” and his “desire to participate” in the future government of Michel Barnier.
Others “pack their boxes”
Another tone of voice resonates from the side of the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Agnès Pannier-Runacher. On the evening of the appointment of the new Prime Minister, the latter estimated on BFMTV that it was time to wipe the slate clean of the past.
“I think the message that the French sent with the elections is that they wanted to change policy,” she replied. “A change in policy is a change in casting, so I think we’re packing our bags.”
“I will be a committed MP,” added the woman who will now be a member of parliament for Together for the Republic (ex-Renaissance) for Pas-de-Calais.
Macronist MP Anne Genetet shares this line. On our channel that same evening, she invited the ministers of the late Attal government to leave their positions. “The French have expressed a desire for renewal. This must come through new ideas, practices and faces in the Government,” she published on X.
According to our information, Michel Barnier has not yet planned to contact Marine Le Pen to discuss possible recruits.
A lunch with Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly Ensemble pour la République, is however planned for Saturday noon to discuss the possibility of opening an extraordinary session at the National Assembly. Which would then give a timetable and a deadline for the formation of this future government.
- BFMTV.com
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