Matignon had indicated a little earlier that Michel Barnier still hoped to present “before Sunday” the composition of his team after “final adjustments”.
The presence on the government list submitted Thursday evening to the Elysée of Bruno Retailleau for the Interior or, for the Family, of LR senator Laurence Garnier, who had opposed same-sex marriage and the constitutionalization of abortion, is causing a stir among the Macronists, particularly among the MoDem deputies who are hesitant to integrate the team in this context.
After several meetings on Friday around François Bayrou, “there is no decision taken” on the participation or not of the centrist party in the government, the MoDem group told AFP on Friday evening.
“Final adjustments” at Matignon: the Barnier government will not be announced this Friday
“There are still unknowns, we don’t have 100% of the answers to our questions,” they added, nevertheless highlighting “a feeling of responsibility” and “a desire to support Barnier.”
On a trip to Chartres for the European Heritage Days, Emmanuel Macron called on his supporters and allies to “help” the Prime Minister “form his government”.
“Everyone must help him succeed because it is in the collective interest,” insisted the head of state, adding that Michel Barnier was putting together his team with “complete freedom.”
On X, the former centrist MP Jean-Louis Bourlanges “adjured” his friends to “overcome their reservations” because “the political, financial and international situation of the country is too serious”.
After having brought together on Thursday the heads of the different parties that could enter the government, the Prime Minister submitted a list of 38 ministers to the President of the Republic.
Matignon then announced that the government would be presented “before Sunday” pending the green light from the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP).
“It’s no!”
The team presented on Thursday was to include 16 full ministers, including ten from the presidential camp (Ensemble pour la République, Horizons, MoDem) and three Republicans (LR).
“After all the work we have accomplished on the societal level, Laurence Garnier and Bruno Retailleau in government, it’s no!” commented the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) MP Ludovic Mendes.
Formation of the French government: Barnier promises an imminent announcement of his government
The left was also outraged by the choice of these ministers.
“This is going to be the government of the Manif pour Tous,” denounced the head of the LFI deputies Mathilde Panot on TF1. “Why was there a dissolution if it was to have more or less the same, even more to the right?”, asked the former socialist president François Hollande.
Darmanin confirms his departure
Bruno Retailleau would replace Gérald Darmanin, who announced his departure on Friday morning with a message of thanks to the staff of his ministry.
Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the LR deputies who has ambitions for the Elysée Palace, took the lead on Thursday by announcing that he was giving up on joining the government as Minister of Finance.
On the Macronist side, the resigning MoDem Minister for European Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot should be proposed for Foreign Affairs, and the outgoing Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu should be reappointed.
While he is struggling to find left-wing personalities, from whom he has been refused several times, only one diverse leftist appears among these full ministers. The name of Didier Migaud, current president of the HATVP and from the Socialist Party, is circulating for Justice.
Formation of the French government: end of the Macron-Barnier meeting, first names are circulating but an LR figure has refused a portfolio
He could have at his side the deputy Naïma Moutchou, who would be one of the two ministers of the Horizons party of Edouard Philippe with the deputy Paul Christophe in Social Affairs.
At Bercy, the ministry would be composed of a duo of Macronist deputies: Antoine Armand for the Economy and Industry on one side; Mathieu Lefèvre on the other for the Budget. It remains to be seen whether they would be overseen by a Minister of Finance or directly piloted by Matignon.
Among the outgoing members, Catherine Vautrin, ex-LR, would move from Labour to a broad Territories portfolio while Agnès Pannier-Runacher, from the left wing of Macron’s party, would leave Agriculture for Ecology.
Michel Barnier tried to reassure his potential partners at Matignon on Thursday.
He said he would not raise taxes on the middle classes, a decision that satisfied Gabriel Attal, the leader of the EPR deputies, who had set this condition for participating in the government.
The Prime Minister, who appears to want to remain vague about his programme until his general policy statement on 1 October, claimed to have discovered a “very serious budgetary situation”.
