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00:00Some French news now. Political uncertainty here could be nearing its end.
00:04The newly appointed Prime Minister Michel Barnier put forward his picks for a new cabinet to President Emmanuel Macron Thursday.
00:11The full list of 38 names has yet to be made public, but early reports suggest there will be no big surprises.
00:18Both the left and the far right have criticised the proposed list, calling it a reshuffle that promised more of the same.
00:24Noam Bachetika reports.
00:27After two months of political deadlock, France could be edging towards a new government.
00:33Prime Minister Michel Barnier submitted his list for a new cabinet to Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, with some names already filtering through.
00:41These include Conservative Senate leader Bruno Retailleau, touted for the Interior Ministry.
00:47A nomination that would mark a shift to the right, but not enough to satisfy the far-right national rally.
00:55Between him and his predecessor, Mr Darmanin, there's not much difference.
01:00They're the same. They have the same political affiliation and ideas. The same failures as well.
01:07France has been unable to form a government since July's snap elections saw a left-wing coalition win the largest number of seats in Parliament.
01:16But without a working majority, and plagued by internal disputes, the left has been unable to build on these electoral gains.
01:23Last month, Macron rejected its pick for Prime Minister, nominating former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier instead.
01:30A move widely criticised by socialist MPs, yet some remained quietly hopeful the new cabinet would reflect the will of the French people, expressed in the July polls.
01:42We don't have a choice but to stay optimistic, and we can only hope that of all of the cabinets we've seen under Mr Macron, the last one will be the best.
01:55Other possible nominations include centrist Jean-Noël Barrault for Foreign Minister, and Sébastien Lecornu staying on as Defence Minister.
02:05The full make-up of the new cabinet should be unveiled by Sunday.
02:10Well, let's get more on this and bring in Dr Anna Makeeva, who is Lecturer in Political Science at the University of West Scotland.
02:17Thanks so much for joining us on the programme, Anna. We really appreciate your time.
02:21So the list of names hasn't been published yet. We are expecting it to come any day now.
02:26Give us your thoughts on who you think is likely to be in this cabinet.
02:31Hi, thanks for having me. So as we've already seen, the composition of the future government is likely to be more or less the same, where we're seeing the centrist and the right-wing parties get in the portfolios.
02:46We're seeing particularly that probably the Les Républicains deputies are going also to be part of the government and the Interior Ministry indeed.
02:57So we are not seeing any left-wing figures or names currently proposed by Michel Barnier.
03:05So that is quite concerning because obviously, you know, the French population voted for the Nouveau Front Populaire,
03:14and Macron at this stage completely ignoring the popular will and suggesting that the new prime minister is going to be somebody from,
03:25and the new ministers are going to be somebody centrist and from the right-wing parties, which, for example, Les Républicains,
03:32they are the fourth largest party in the National Assembly, but they are going to be probably in charge of one of the most important ministries of the Interior.
03:42So, yeah, there is definitely some worries about the representation of left-wing parties and left-wing deputies in the future government.
03:55And just on the point that you raised, Anna, about Macron, you know, ignoring the will of the people,
04:00how do you think the French public is likely to be feeling at the moment to this news about the cabinet?
04:09Obviously, those who voted for the left-wing parties, for the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, they are very disappointed.
04:16We've seen this with the protests that have taken place in the last few weeks.
04:24But what we're seeing now is that, you know, all the parties are essentially in the campaign mode for the future election that is likely to take place within the next 10 months.
04:35So, yeah, the population is disappointed and we're yet to see if, after the official announcement on Sunday,
04:42if the population is going to go on streets and protest against that.
04:49But, yeah, the fact that there are no left-wing figures currently proposed by future prime minister, it is worrying and concerning.
05:01And what do you think the balance of power is likely to be like now in the National Assembly once we get this list of names published?
05:09So, yeah, once we have the list of the names published, it's likely that we are going to see the sort of rightward shift within the French politics
05:17where the key ministries are going to be occupied by centrist and right-wing politicians.
05:24And, yeah, we also have the National Rally, obviously, who are not happy on the one hand that they are not part of the government,
05:32but it would never be the case under Macron's presidency.
05:36So they are likely to maybe not necessarily initiate a vote of no confidence for the future government,
05:46but they are likely to sort of stay away and capitalise on being in the position at the minute for the future election
05:52in order to just say they'll look at this chaos and look what's happening.
05:58So it's very difficult to predict, but it's going to be a very difficult decision making in the next 10 months,
06:06no matter who's going to be in the French government.
06:11But the fact that the National Rally, the biggest party in the National Assembly,
06:16the future government needs to be aware of that because National Rally can at any point initiate the vote of no confidence
06:26and probably maybe even be supported by the left-wing coalition in that attempt.
06:32And staying on that point, the vote of no confidence, you know,
06:35Bernier has got to this point, he's reached this point of being able to put together a cabinet,
06:39but of course it doesn't mean that he will survive a potential vote of no confidence.
06:45What chances do you give him?
06:48I mean, a lot will depend on what kind of policies he is going to propose.
06:55And as I said, what's happening currently is that the future government and Macron,
07:00they are trying to cater to the interests of the National Rally,
07:04knowing that they're the largest political party as such, not a coalition, a party in the National Assembly.
07:10So if the future government is going to try to keep the National Rally happy,
07:17you know, maybe there will be less sort of a threat coming from the radical right in terms of no confidence.
07:24But then the left-wing coalition is very likely to initiate that vote of no confidence
07:31because they're not happy that they're not getting any portfolio in the future government.
07:36And the balance of power, as it was said earlier, is skewed completely to the center
07:42and even further to the right in this future government.
07:46So there's always a possibility because it only takes 58 MPs to initiate that vote.
07:52But you do need to have an overall majority to pass, you know, the vote of no confidence to pass.
07:59So a lot will depend how the government is going to cater to both the radical right National Rally,
08:07but also to the leftist.
08:11Dr. Anna Makeeva, who is a lecturer in political science at the University of West Scotland.
08:16Thank you so much for joining us on the program. Really appreciate your thoughts there.