Janice R. Andrews
Thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s choice of Michel Barnier, a 73-year-old former EU Brexit negotiator, as the country’s new Prime Minister. This has caused a lot of unrest. The protests, which were mostly led by left-wing parties, happened after a contentious election that left the house split into three main political groups.
The protests were a direct response to what many people see as Macron’s attempt to gain more power by ignoring the results of the legislative election. Some left-wing groups, like the very left France Unbowed (LFI) party, say that Macron’s choice of Barnier, a centre-right leader, hurts democracy. A story from Reuters says that leaders on the left say Macron is trying to control the government even more by changing the election results.
After the parliamentary elections, where no clear majority was found in the French government, there was a two-month search for a prime minister before Barnier was chosen. Because of this, Barnier has the difficult job of putting together a government without a strong support behind him. Barnier said in his first speech as Prime Minister that he wanted to build a broad alliance with conservatives, Macron’s moderate followers, and even some left-wingers. But the protests show that it might be hard to get such an alliance together.
A lot of opposition groups on the left, especially the New Popular Front (NFP) grouping, have spoken out against Barnier’s selection. A lot of people in the NFP think Macron’s choice goes against what the people want. A study by Elabe found that 74% of French people think Macron didn’t care about the election results, and 55% even said he “stole” the election.
Unions, student groups, and political leaders across the country have planned the protests. Just the LFI party has announced 130 events. Also, strikes are likely to start on October 1. The protests happen at a very bad time for Barnier, who is under more and more pressure from the European Commission and the financial markets to do something about France’s rising deficit.
A no-confidence vote is possible while Barnier continues to work with others to build a stable government. This is especially true since the debate over the 2025 budget is scheduled for early October.
