France’s new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, pledges significant changes, aiming to pull the country out of its political impasse caused by elections two months ago.
The ex-European Commissioner has been asked by President Emmanuel Macron to form a unifying government. But Barnier faces a major challenge and must carefully position his government to avoid an early no-confidence vote.
According to sources close to the 73-year-old, he has already begun establishing dialogue with various state heads, ranging from right-wing officials to previous French President Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as presidents of the National Assembly and Senate.
From Friday morning, Barnier will meet his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, and leaders of his own right-wing party Les Républicains (LR), to discuss terms for participation in his government.
Prominent left-wing figures have also been called for further discussion. The new Prime Minister plans to engage with other parties, including the radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI) and far-right Rassemblement National (RN), affirming his commitment to “respect and unite everyone.”
In his inaugural address, Barnier underlined the importance of listening and showing respect towards all political factions represented in Parliament, arguing that “sectarianism is a sign of weakness.”
“We must respond to challenges, anger, suffering, feelings of abandonment, injustice, as much as we can,” he said, citing education, security, immigration, labour and purchasing power as his priorities.
This appointment concludes sixty days of suspense following the July legislative elections, which resulted in a fragmented National Assembly divided into three main blocs: left, centre-right and far-right.
