The frustration of a part of the French left was strongly expressed this Saturday after the announcement of a Prime Minister from the Republicans party, Michel Barnier. It was a demonstration in the name of political recognition after the legislative elections, in which the New Popular Front (NFP) alliance was the driving force. “Give power back to the people. We have won, and Macron “He didn’t listen to our decision, he didn’t respect the vote,” said Margo, a 47-year-old from Bordeaux who attended the Paris demonstration.
“A great disappointment, a real exhaustion and a growing frustration”says Malo Le Fur, a student at Sciences Po in Paris. “There was a big effort from the left, the New Popular Front and young people during these elections, all for nothing since the result was not respected,” adds Le Fur.
In the same vein, Chloé, a 32-year-old architect, comments: “It’s not surprising coming from Macron, you get used to it, but I didn’t expect the prime minister to be so terrible: he’s homophobic, older and represents a party that came fourth in the elections…” “He’s a reactionary prime minister with ideas too close to the extreme right,” he continues. “There is a clear denial of the will of the people.”
Many protesters denounce a “double game” on Macron’s part, accusing him of having “based his legislative strategy on the Republican arc” and on the containment of the extreme right, to finally “reverse the situation”. Arthur, a 25-year-old student, insists: “It has destroyed democratic institutions, showing that voting is no longer useful”The Prime Minister’s announcement was greeted with a wave that sparked protests across France.
This Saturday, 150 demonstrations took place in the country, according to the organizers, and “this is only a first step,” Arthur believes. “We are not going to give up. Macron is trying to silence us, as always,” the young man adds.
The street protests will not be the only front of the NFP. A motion of censure will be tabled as soon as the National Assembly opens, with the aim of bringing down the government. The new Assembly, which for the first time since the Fifth Republic has three main blocs, must try to form a parliamentary majority, in which the different parties of the NFP will not collaborate: “We will ask for the censure of the Barnier government”, affirm the rebels. the socialists and the ecologists have already announced it in a joint statement published in X last Thursday.
Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, also assured in an interview with France Inter that “no personality from his party will be part of this government”. A legislative blockage should prevent a common agreement and the demonstrations will continue throughout France. In a press release, the Socialist Party specifies that “by refusing to appoint a personality from the New Popular Front to the post of Prime Minister, Macron breaks with a republican tradition shared and respected until now“, adding that Macron “trampled on the French vote” and that for this reason “the socialist group censures the government of Michel Barnier”.
On the other hand, part of the PFN youth declares itself “between revolt and despair”. Chloé explains: “We realize that the demonstrations and, through them, the people, are no longer heard. The yellow vests are a perfect example of this. They demonstrated for two years and, in the end, achieved absolutely nothing. the goal of fighting.” And he adds that “if the demonstrations no longer serve much purpose today, they at least make us feel less alone and show us that there are many of us.”
Although the left is trying to unite through the various demonstrations, it is also divided regarding the decisions prior to this nomination.
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, expressed her “deep indignation” against the Socialist Party, which reproach for having prevented the nomination of the socialist Bernard Cazeneuve to the post of Prime Minister: “We could have had a left-wing Prime Minister more in tune with the French vote in the second round of the legislative elections. His name is Bernard Cazeneuve.” Hidalgo insists that “the pension law could have been reconsidered, under certain conditions”, a reform implemented by Macron through article 49.3, which has sparked multiple protests in French society.
