Barely born to try to end a long political crisis in France, the government of Michel Barnier, a fragile alliance between the Macronists and the right, is already under fire from critics from the left and the far right, who hold its survival in their hands.
The first official steps of the 39 new ministers are expected on Monday, with the transfer of power in the morning followed by a Council of Ministers around President Emmanuel Macron. The government officially announced on Saturday evening gives pride of place to the president’s party, Renaissance, and a good place to the right-wing party Les Républicains (LR)despite having come out in sharp decline from the legislative elections caused by the controversial dissolution of the National Assembly.
“The French expect only one thing from public officials: results. I am therefore here to act, with a single watchword: restore order to ensure harmony,” the new Minister of the Interior, the LR, said on X after his appointment Bruno Retailleauwhose conservative profile on social issues and very firm on Immigration has crystallized criticism on the left but also within the presidential camp.
THE new Minister of Economy and Finance, the young Macronist Antoine Armandhe estimated in an interview with the Journal du dimanche (JDD) that excluding “automatically certain exceptional and targeted levies would not be responsible” given the state of public finances. He also promised to “reduce public spending”.
L’The preparation of the 2025 budget, which has already been delayed by an unprecedented amount, is the number one emergency in a very tense context. As a sign of its importance, Mr. Barnier wanted to keep an eye on this explosive issue by placing the Macronist Minister of Public Accounts, Laurent Saint-Martin, under his direct supervision.
Only two ministers from the previous government will retain their positions. Rachida Dati at Culture, and Sébastien Lecornu at the Armys.
Other rare survivors, the centrist Jean-Noel Barrotpromoted to Foreign Affairs, as well as the Macronists Catherine Vautrinwhich passes to the Territories, and Agnes Pannier-Runacher in a large ministry of Ecological Transition and Energy.
Among the entrants, The main surprise is the Macronist MP Anne Genetet in Education, which she is not considered an expert in.
The only “take” came from the left, while Emmanuel Macron advocated a government of “rallying” and Michel Barnier tried hard to attract social democrats: Didier Migaud to JusticeBut the former socialist MP left active politics in 2010.
L’The marked coupling on the right is immediately marked by the tensions between the Prime Minister and the presidential campwho had governed unchallenged for seven years. The cause is a team considered too right-wing by the centrist MoDem and part of Macron’s party, and whose program remains unclear pending the general policy statement scheduled for October 1.
On the left, this executive was denounced as ” a reactionary government in the form of a middle finger to democracy ” by the leader of the socialists, Olivier Faure, who gave “an appointment for the censure debate” in the Assembly.
The second round of the legislative elections on July 7, marked by the barrage against the far right, placed the left-wing coalition of the New Popular Front (NFP) as the leading force in the Assembly, although far from an absolute majority. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise, a radical left-wing party that is a member of the NFP, called for “getting rid of this “government of losers” as soon as possible, which according to him has “neither legitimacy nor future”. As for the president of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, who holds the key to the survival of the new team in the Assembly, he criticized a government that “has no future”.
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