Macron nominates Michel Barnier as France’s new PM

PARIS, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) — French President Emmanuel Macron has nominated Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister, the French presidential office Elysee palace said on Thursday.
Macron has tasked Barnier with forming a unified government to serve the country and the French people, Elysee said in a press release.
According to Elysee, Barnier’s nomination came after an unprecedented cycle of consultations. Macron ensured that the future government led by Barnier would meet the conditions of being “as stable as possible and give themselves the chance to unite as broadly as possible,” the press release added.
On July 16, Macron accepted Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s resignation but asked him to remain in charge of a caretaker government until a new cabinet is formed.
In the two rounds of legislative elections held on June 30 and July 7, Macron’s centrist coalition finished second with 163 seats, trailing the left-wing parties’ alliance, the New Popular Front (NFP), which secured a relative majority, with 182 seats in the 577-member National Assembly.
Macron’s nomination of Barnier from the right-wing party The Republicans (LR) was criticized by the left-wing parties, who have been expecting a candidate from the NFP.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI), said that the nomination shows that Macron has decided to “officially deny” the results of the snap legislative elections. The prime minister should come from the NFP alliance, he added.
Meanwhile, Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the Socialist Party, said that Barnier’s nomination brings the “democratic denial to its peak.” He stressed that the LR only came fourth in the legislative elections.
Born in 1951, Michel Barnier was elected to the French National Assembly in 1978, becoming the youngest deputy at that time in France. Elected as president of the departmental council of Savoie, he led the city of Albertville to win the hosting of the 1992 Winter Olympic Games.
During his political career, He has served as French environment minister, minister delegate for Europe, foreign affairs minister and agriculture minister. He also served as the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator. ■