Political crisis in France: New government in Paris faces major challenges

Barely three months after the victory of the left in France, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed a center-right government, infuriating the left. The Élysée Palace announced the names of the more than 30 ministers and secretaries of state on Saturday evening. The left-wing camp, which won the early parliamentary elections with a relative majority, will only appoint one minister. In return, the new government now includes Macron’s allies as well as several members of the conservative Republicans.

All key positions will be filled, only Sébastien Lecornu will keep his post as Minister of Defense. Jean-Noël Barrot will become Foreign Minister, Bruno Retailleau will become Minister of the Interior. Antoine Armand will be responsible for the economy and finances. Prime Minister Michel Barnier called on everyone to get to work that evening, and the first Council of Ministers is scheduled to take place on Monday.

Left alliance left out despite election victory

However, this does not necessarily mean that the situation will stabilize. The center-right government formed by Barnier has been under considerable pressure from the start. Left and Green politicians spoke of a denial of democracy and stressed that voters had been cheated out of the election result. Several thousand people protested across the country before the cabinet members were appointed.

In the parliamentary election, the left-wing coalition came in ahead of the centrist forces of President Macron and the right-wing nationalists around Marine Le Pen. Neither camp received an absolute majority, and no party managed to form a governing majority with partners. Macron ruled out a left-wing coalition government in July, citing the country’s stability as the reason for this, as such a government would be overthrown immediately by a vote of no confidence.

Vote of no confidence looms

But the same fate could also await the new government. Top politicians who are well-known beyond France could not be persuaded to take up ministerial posts. This could also be due to the fact that it is uncertain whether the government will remain in office for a long time and will not be overthrown immediately. A vote of no confidence could soon be threatened by both the left and the extreme right. Socialist leader Olivier Faure has already announced such a vote, but does not necessarily believe it will be successful.

The founder of the Left Party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, called for the Barnier government to be “got rid of as quickly as possible”. Jordan Bardella from the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National (RN) spoke of a government that has no future. Prime Minister Barnier’s first government statement on October 1 is now eagerly awaited.

The conservative Barnier was appointed by Macron two weeks ago after much hesitation. The hope was that the former EU chief Brexit negotiator, with his negotiating skills and talent for compromise, would succeed in finding enough partners for a government capable of acting. On Thursday evening, Barnier presented Macron with his personnel table. Due to “final adjustments”, as the government said, the presentation of the cabinet was then postponed from Friday to Saturday. According to broadcaster BFMTV, this was the longest government formation since 1962.

The future government will definitely not have an absolute majority that can simply implement President Macron’s political plans. Depending on the government’s plans, Barnier may have to rely on the support of various partners and also on the tolerance of Marine le Pen’s RN. Head of state Macron, who wanted to strengthen his position with the new elections, is weakened by this. Since he has the upper hand in foreign policy and has a pro-European prime minister at his side in Barnier, little is likely to change in terms of cooperation with Brussels and Berlin.

Mountain of debt weighs on start of new government

In domestic politics, however, the new government is facing a tough test with the budget for the coming year. The EU Commission is currently initiating an excessive deficit procedure against France due to excessive new debt. There is really no way around drastic austerity measures in France, with its traditionally high public spending, and disputes over the question of possible tax increases have already broken out between Barnier and the Macron camp before the government was appointed.