France: During Forming Government, Barnier Runs into a “Rubber Wall” of Macron & Co.
Macron has already rejected two ministerial lists proposed by France's new prime minister
France’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, faced “President Emmanuel Macron’s inflexibility in forming a new government.” According to the French newspaper Le Figaro, the new prime minister and the head of state “have met at least twice in recent days without getting to the bottom of the new government.”
According to Le Figaro, Barnier presented Macron with his list of ministers, while the president “tried to impose some of his candidates for key posts on the prime minister.” Among the appointments proposed by Macron is the outgoing Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, to whom the president would like to entrust the reins of the Foreign Ministry in the new government.
For its part, French television channel BFM TV reported that on Tuesday (September 17), “Barnier presented Macron with a list of 17 names, among them many from the Republicans.” During the meeting, which the president’s inner circle called “very tense,” Macron threw Barnier’s list into the trash. In this heated atmosphere, the Elysee Palace once again refuted the hypothesis of resignation that Barnier is going to submit in protest against Macron’s “extreme” position.
