‘Turn to the right’: What Macron’s choice of Barnier as PM means for France
Al Jazeera
By placating the far-right National Rally, Macron has given it credibility despite its election loss, say analysts.
Paris, France – French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday appointed Michel Barnier, a right-wing politician who has been part of administrations since 1978, as the country’s new prime minister, after seven weeks without a premier in office.
Macron’s announcement comes after weeks of deadlock following the parliamentary snap elections in July. But the nomination of a conservative politician has angered many French voters.
The left-wing New Popular Front coalition won the most seats (193) in the snap election for the National Assembly. Barnier’s party, the Republicans, came in fourth, and many on the left feel betrayed by Macron’s decision to pick the veteran politician as PM.
“The left is disappointed because the right essentially suffered huge losses, but Macron still selected a conservative prime minister,” Baptiste Colin, a 29-year-old theatre producer from Lyon who voted for the left-wing coalition in July, told Al Jazeera. “We misread the results in the legislative elections.
“We thought the left won, but it is not the left who gets to represent the prime minister.”
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