By Paul de Neuville, Paris correspondent, for Eurasia Business News, September 5, 2024. Article No 1209.

Michel Barnier was appointed Prime Minister this Thursday by president Emmanuel Macron. Aged 73, the latter was minister several times, during the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.

This appointment, announced on Thursday, follows a prolonged period of political uncertainty and a caretaker government lasting over 50 days.

Barnier, aged 73, is well-known for his role as the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator and has previously served as a cabinet minister multiple times under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy. He is a member of the conservative Les Républicains party and has also been a European Commissioner.

Barnier’s appointment comes after Macron’s extensive search for a candidate capable of forming a stable government amid a fragmented parliament.

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The political landscape in France has been challenging since Macron’s party lost its majority, with increased representation from Marine Le Pen’s far-right party. Barnier now faces the task of assembling a government and securing a vote of confidence from MPs.

This situation has arisen due to the lack of a clear majority in the Assemblée Nationale following recent parliamentary elections. The transition period allows for negotiations and potential compromises among political forces to form a new government.

On June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the lower house of parliament – the National Assembly – and called early parliamentary elections due to the heavy defeat in the European Parliament elections of the social-liberal presidential party “Renaissance”, which lost significantly to the nationalist right-wing “National Rally”.

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In the early parliamentary elections of 30 June and 7 July, the pro-presidential coalition lost to the New Popular Front, a bloc of left-wing parties, and the National Rally. No political force has won an absolute parliamentary majority, but the left can claim to form a minority government.

It will be difficult for the new Prime Minister and his government to resist votes of censure or obstruction by a de facto coalition between the NFP (left) and the RN (nationalist right). The vote on the finance law for the year 2025 promises to be epic. The budget must be adopted before December 31, 2024. The new Barnier government may not last until July 2025, when the National Assembly is likely to be dissolved again by President Macron, as authorized by the Constitution of October 4, 1958.

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© Copyright 2024 – Eurasia Business News. Article n°1209.