France’s new Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Tuesday faces a motion of no-confidence brought by the left which is set to underline the fragility of his government even while having little chance of succeeding.
Barnier, a right-wing former EU Brexit negotiator, was appointed by centrist President Emmanuel Macron to bring some stability in a potentially testy “cohabitation” across the political divide after inconclusive legislative elections earlier this summer.
The veteran premier, 73, has since sought to firmly take the reins, warning that France faces financial crisis if its budget deficit is not narrowed and saying that tax rises could be in order for high earners.
Macron, whose term runs until 2027, has in the last weeks taken a noticeable back seat, especially on domestic issues while making uncharacteristically infrequent public comments.
The appointment of Barnier, a patrician figure who served stints as a minister and EU commissioner, has also been a contrast for the French.
They have seen three premiers who were almost unknown before their appointment come and go in the space of four years.
But Barnier and his government, named last month with a conspicuously right-wing tinge, could be toppled at any moment if a no-confidence motion were passed in the National Assembly lower house of government.
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats of any coalition in the polls — even if the far-right National Rally (RN) emerged as the largest single party — and is still livid that Macron failed to appoint a leftist as prime minister.
“The existence of this government, in its composition and its orientation, is a negation of the result of the legislative elections,” states the motion, which is due to be put forward by Socialist Party (PS) leader Olivier Faure.
The left has also been angered by the hardline stances of the new Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, who has said there should be a referendum on immigration, although he admitted this was not possible under the constitution.
Give the product a chance
However, the motion put forward by the NFP — a coalition of Socialists, Communists, hard-leftists and Greens — has little chance of succeeding as the RN’s MPs under three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen have made clear they will not back it on this occasion.
“I think the situation is serious enough not to bring down this government before it has got going,” RN MP Laure Lavalette told France 2 television.
“We are going to… give the product a chance… We cannot add to the chaos as you (the left) are doing,” she added.
However the numbers could prove embarrassing for the Barnier government at this early stage, with some backing for the motion coming also from independents and even some dissenting members of Macron’s centrist faction unhappy at the prospect of tax rises.
Commentators have noted that the fate of Barnier’s government risks being at the RN’s mercy, vulnerable to a “sword of Damocles” wielded by Le Pen, who is expected to run for the presidency in 2027.
The prime minister, for his part, is well aware that he is walking on thin ice: “I know that I am in the hands of parliament,” he told La Tribune Dimanche.
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