On BFMTV, former Republican (LR) MP Henri Guaino stressed that the new Prime Minister has “no unconditional support from any party” in the National Assembly and believes that the government about to be formed “is not a government like the others”.
While Michel Barnier proposed the names of 38 ministers to Emmanuel Macron this Thursday, September 19, a figure from the right recalled that the new Prime Minister will have difficulty in carrying out “any programs whatsoever” during his time in Matingon.
On BFMTV, Henri Guaino, former LR MP and special advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy, judged that the government composed of Michel Barnier “has no democratic legitimacy”.
“This is the first time in the history of our Republic that a government has no democratic legitimacy,” he said. “That is to say, it has received no mandate to implement any programs whatsoever.”
“For this to work, the parties and ministers must understand that this government is not like the others,” argues Henri Guaino, who finds the term “cohabitation” to describe the political situation since the second round of the legislative elections “absurd.”
Not a “cohabitation”
“During a cohabitation, power passes partly from the Élysée to Matignon because the presidential majority disappears and is replaced by a majority of the Prime Minister. This is not the case here. If Michel Barnier is there, “it is simply because the President of the Republic decided to put him at Matignon”, says Henri Guaino.
The former LR MP emphasizes that the new head of government “has no unconditional support from any party” in the National Assembly. And it is this lack of “unconditional support” that can explain why the list of 38 ministers was drawn up two weeks after Michel Barnier’s arrival in Matingon. Each component of the alliance between LR and the presidential bloc tried to raise the stakes, both in terms of positions and substance.
An agreement seems to have been reached this Thursday, September 19. Michel Barnier went to the Élysée Palace in the evening for a discussion described as “constructive” with Emmanuel Macron, according to Matignon, which specified that the new government “respects the balances.”
“It will be presented before Sunday, in light of the usual ethical checks,” added the Prime Minister’s office.
The leader of the Republicans (LR) deputies, Laurent Wauquiez, took it upon himself to announce to his troops that he had refused the Finance portfolio and would therefore not be in the Barnier government. On the other hand, his counterpart in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, has been proposed for the Ministry of the Interior.
On the Macronist side, the resigned MoDem Minister for European Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot is tipped for Foreign Affairs, while the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu should be reappointed, according to our information.
