France: Michel Barnier is New Prime Minister

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Michel Barnier as the new prime minister.

“The President of the Republic has appointed Michel Barnier as prime minister, entrusting him with the task of creating a government of unity at the service of the country and the French,” the Elysee Palace said in a statement. “This appointment came after an unprecedented round of consultations in which, in line with his constitutional duty, the President ensured that the Prime Minister and the new government met the conditions to be as stable as possible and to enable each other to bring as many people together as possible.”

Born in 1951, Barnier is a member of the right-wing neo-Gaullists, currently part of the Republicans (LR) movement. A politician with extensive experience both in France, where he has been a minister several times, and at Community level, where he was EU Commissioner and chief Brexit negotiator.

He will now succeed Gabriel Attal after 50 days of stalemate following political elections. Attal, 34, was the youngest prime minister in the history of the French Republic, Barnier the oldest, at 73.

In France, the appointment of the prime minister depends on the president, so Barnier is already in power and does not need a vote of confidence, even though by custom, when the prime minister takes office, he usually asks for confidence in a speech to the National Assembly where he explains his programs.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unconquered, reacted very strongly: “Barnier is not from the New Popular Front, which won the election, but from the party that got the fewest votes of all. The election was stolen.” From the opposite end of the Assembly, that is, from the Rassemblement Nationale, it is said that Barnier is a “fossil of politics,” even though Jordão Bardella has assured that he will “judge the general political discourse,” that is, the words that Barnier will utter before the Assembly.