Macron gives far-right 'best of both worlds': Role of kingmaker who's 'not accountable for anything'
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00:00Michel Barnier has begun his first full day as France's new Prime Minister.
00:06President Emmanuel Macron appointed him the former chief Brexit negotiator on Thursday.
00:13That ended two months of endless talks.
00:17France's hung parliament is dominated by three minority blocs that are bitterly opposed.
00:22As Barnier took over from outgoing Gabriel Attal, he promised respect for all political
00:27forces.
00:28Take a listen.
00:33Ladies and gentlemen, this new page will also see changes and ruptures.
00:39Finally, we will need to listen carefully and show a great deal of respect, first and
00:44foremost respect between the government and parliament.
00:49Respect for all political forces and I mean all the political forces represented here
00:55and I'm going to start working on that this evening.
00:59Respect also for the social partners, the economic partners and then for the local elected
01:04representatives who are part of this Republican fabric, which is to our credit and to their
01:10credit on the ground.
01:18Barnier thought to be one of those rare leaders whose future government could survive a no-confidence
01:24vote.
01:25Let's listen to the reactions, a furious reaction though, coming from some various
01:30political groups.
01:34Major political figures rushed to TV and radio studios on Friday.
01:40On the left side of the political spectrum, they were eager to criticize the naming of
01:45Michel Barnier, a right wing man, to the prime minister's position.
01:52I'd like to say that I am angry, like millions of French voters who feel betrayed by the
01:58president's decision.
02:02The leftist alliance got more votes than any other group, although they did not get a majority.
02:08Leaders say they will bring a no-confidence vote to parliament.
02:12I don't think anyone from the Socialist Party will join the government, I'm sure.
02:17On the right though, Michel Barnier is likely to have a large choice of candidates for his
02:23cabinet, starting with his own, the Republicans party.
02:26Its leaders met with Barnier to make sure he maintains a right wing agenda, although
02:31centrist president Emmanuel Macron is still at the helm.
02:35Barnier's first challenge, remaining in power, keeping the far right from joining the left
02:40and striking down his cabinet.
02:45If it's not a cohabitation, but simply a continuity of what Emmanuel Macron has done, then we
02:50will be able to vote Barnier out.
02:54This threat from the far right means to many that the national rally will try to pressure
02:59Barnier into passing its policies.
03:02Emmanuel Macron's party dismissed those concerns.
03:08When did you hear that Michel Barnier wants to invite a national rally MP into his government?
03:14What Barnier did say and repeat as he took office is that he would respect all parties.
03:20Other potential candidates for the Prime Minister's post saw their bids collapse after refusing
03:27to work with the far right.
03:31For more, we can speak to Professor Renaud Foucault from Lancaster University.
03:35Hello and thank you for speaking to Paris Direct this Friday.
03:40What did you make of Michel Barnier's appointment as Prime Minister?
03:45I think it's a strange day for France.
03:47It's not anti-democratic, so it will be a Prime Minister with likely a majority supported
03:52by the far right.
03:53But when voters in France went on the 7th of July for the second round of the election,
03:57it was really a referendum against the far right.
04:00So there was a Republican front where candidates from the left, from the center withdrew each
04:04other to make a block, to block the far right from getting into power.
04:07And the result of those consultations of Emmanuel Macron, his choice of nominating
04:11Michel Barnier, means that a lot of those people who were elected to block the far right
04:16will be de facto in charge of a government entirely dependent on the veto right of the
04:21far right.
04:22So this is a very strange moment for France.
04:23It is democratic, but it is definitely not the outcome that most people had seen as the
04:27result of the election, which was a defeat of the far right against the non-far right.
04:32And so looking forward, he still has a former government.
04:35Who do you expect to be in that cabinet?
04:38So this will be a center-right government.
04:40I don't think he will invite anyone from the Rassemblement National.
04:44He will most likely follow what was his bid when he wanted to be president in the previous
04:49election, which is something that is very close, in fact, to the program of the Rassemblement
04:53National.
04:54So very tough on migration, but also something that is close to the traditional right on
04:59spending cuts or putting the budget back on track by cutting public spending.
05:05But at the same time, at every point, we need to make the far right happy.
05:10So we need to find people in government that are not blocked by the far right, that do
05:14not make them angry.
05:15And, of course, what you can expect is that the far right will use that power as much
05:19as they can.
05:20At any point, they can pull the trigger, meaning that they will do it when they find it convenient,
05:24as close, I guess, as possible to the next presidential election.
05:27But does that feel like that this national rally, the Rassemblement National, could be
05:31sort of holding the government hostage to set the agenda, to dictate policy, to get
05:36certain people on board the cabinet?
05:38Well, definitely, this is something that has happened everywhere in Europe.
05:42You had other governments, minority governments with the far right.
05:45The far right used that to get maximum leverage.
05:47At the same point, they showed that they are reasonable people.
05:50Look, they are not blocking the government.
05:52And you know, this is important.
05:53The left and the center left and the far left, they could not agree on someone.
05:57The prime minister today could be Bernard Kasner, so a center left prime minister.
06:02It did not happen because they could not agree.
06:04The far right is showing we are reasonable.
06:06We can do this.
06:07But at the same time, they will not be accountable for anything that happened in the government.
06:11So they are really in the best of both worlds for them, and they can choose as they like
06:15what will happen in government.
06:17All right, Professor.
06:19Thank you very much.
06:20Professor Renaud Foucault speaking to us there.