Exit “New World”. Under pressure from all sides to finally appoint a prime minister and put an end to one of the most serious political crises France has experienced since 1958, Emmanuel Macron put the continuation of his five-year mandate in the hands of the Republican Michel Barnier on Thursday, September 5. Not without hesitating, until late in the morning, with the former socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve. Two incarnations of this “the old world” and of these “old parties” long vilified by Macronists.
To avoid the risk of an immediate censure of the next government by the National Assembly, the head of state put the name of the former European commissioner to the test at the beginning of the summer with his interlocutors. But it was only after rejecting Bernard Cazeneuve on the left, Xavier Bertrand on the right and Thierry Beaudet, president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, on the side of civil society, that Emmanuel Macron seriously considered the Barnier hypothesis. Alexis Kohler, secretary general of the Elysée, a friend of the former minister, called him on Wednesday morning. In the late afternoon he cycled to the Elysée for a first tête-à-tête with the head of state.
The Gaullist benefited from the good will of the National Rally (RN) in order to reach Matignon, which decided to give him a chance. The new prime minister “seems to meet at least the first criterion we ask for, that is, someone who is respectful of the different political forces”Marine Le Pen reacted after the announcement from the Elysée Palace. “He is a man who has never been excessive in his way of speaking about the National Assembly, who has never marginalized the RN, he is a man of discussion”The president of the RN group in the National Assembly also stressed that Michel Barnier’s call for a moratorium on immigration before the 2022 presidential elections, while he was considering the Presidency of the Republic, did not leave Marine Le Pen indifferent, who is delighted not to have done so. for once “, ” a crazy immigrant » in Matignon.
“The least bad solution”
“This appointment is justified by the stability of a government suspended by the benevolence of the RN,” This worried former Macronist Sacha Houlié, who is now among those not registered. “Marine Le Pen will point a gun at Barnier”fears the advisor of a resigned minister.
The entourage of the Head of State acknowledges that the Barnier option was previously tested with the RN, like other political forces, and that it did not fulfill its promise. “without a priori censorship” in the Assembly, while the flame party promised a “ automatic censorship » for both Xavier Bertrand and Bernard Cazeneuve.
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