“Many are not the first to be last, and the last to be first”: this famous phrase of Jesus in the Gospel according to Matthew, the French Le Monde used to comment on the appointment of Michel Barnier as the country’s prime minister by the president Emmanuel Macron.
A member of the centre-right Republicans, Barnier, 73, saw his party come fifth in the last parliamentary elections, winning just 47 seats.
His centre-right party even refused to take part in the bloc against the far right in the second round of parliamentary elections, which Macron himself had requested. But that did not stop the French president from appointing him prime minister, after having postponed his decision for 52 days.
Barnierwho served several times as a minister and former EU Internal Market Commissioner, and who negotiated Brexit for the EU, is an experienced politician.
Even if the left, which came first in the elections, cries out about a “democratic theft”, the appointment of the prime minister is the exclusive prerogative of the President of the Republic. The French constitution of 1958 imposes no limits on who the president can appoint to the post.
However, under the current system, the prime minister has always been the face of the parliamentary majority in parliament. In principle, for a practical reason: parliament has the ability to force the prime minister to resign with an impeachment motion. But Macron seems to have already made hidden arrangements to prevent this.
Agreement with Le Pen
The French press even talks about an agreement with the far-right Marine Le Pen.
France now has a new conservative prime minister with tolerance and perhaps even a touch of the far right. The Barnier government has no chance of staying in the saddle without some form of tolerance from Le Pen.
After all, only if Barnier can secure the support of Le Pen’s party will he be able to survive a vote of no confidence from the left in Parliament.
However, the far-right National Rally has assured President Macron that it will not take action against the Barnier government for now, French newspapers write. But Le Pen herself found words of appreciation for Barnier. “He is a man who knows how to dialogue with all political camps.”
After all, Le Pen believes that the new prime minister will implement her agenda, especially with regard to immigration. Justify Le Pen’s policy with a view to the 2027 presidential elections.
In the end, it seems, the losers of the election are the winners and Marine Le Pen still holds all the cards.
Of course, we will see whether Barnier, even if he survives the expected censure proposal from the left, will be able to approve difficult issues in Parliament, starting with the 2025 budget.
Indeed, when the EU threatens France with sanctions due to its high budget deficit.
But in any case, it is clear that even in the strong heart of Europe, the antidotes to the poisons of the extreme right seem to be weakening more and more every day.
The choice of Michel Barnier, a member of a divided party, clearly in decline and electorally defeated, and with extreme right-wing traits, shows exactly where the point of failure lies.
The EU is shaking
Democracy itself risks falling victim to “Zius” Macron’s arrogance.
When France follows this authoritarian path and without even caring about the election result and the demand for change it expresses, the waters rarely remain calm.
This was also seen in Germany with the victory of the far-right AfD in the two East German states last Sunday.
The decline of the SPD, the Greens and the Liberals in Germany is seriously undermining the stability of the Berlin government and the weight of democratic forces in Europe.
Unfortunately, there is no doubt that the post-war European balance is shaking, starting with the central Franco-German axis, which is leaning towards the extreme right.