France announces new cabinet, left and right wings voice strong opposition

Moderate and conservative cabinet

After two and a half months of political turmoil since centrist President Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to call early elections, new Prime Minister Michel Barnier has formed a cabinet that he hopes will gain support across the divided French parliament.

With few influential political figures, his team includes conservative leader Bruno Retailleau, who has been appointed interior minister. Meanwhile, the prestigious finance minister position has been given to Antoine Armand, a little-known 33-year-old from Mr Macron’s party.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier (center) during a tour in Le Bourget du Lac, France on September 12, 2024. Photo: AFP

The public finance portfolio, shared with new Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin, will have the difficult task of drawing up a budget bill before January, when France is struggling to rein in its growing budget deficit.

“We have to cut public spending and make it more efficient,” new Finance Minister Armand told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper in an interview published on Saturday. “If the solution was to raise taxes, France would have long since become the world’s leading superpower.”

But despite the addition of 10 politicians from Mr Barnier's conservative Republicans (LR) party to the cabinet, President Macron kept several outgoing ministers in key positions. Only one left-wing politician joined the cabinet, Didier Migaud as justice minister.

Jean-Noel Barrot, the outgoing European minister, has been promoted to foreign minister. Meanwhile, Sebastien Lecornu will continue as defence minister.

In the July election, a left-wing bloc called the New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats in parliament of any political bloc, but still not enough to win a majority.

Mr Macron argued that the left would not be able to muster enough support to form a cabinet without being immediately dismissed by parliament.

Instead, he turned to Barnier to lead a cabinet that relies heavily on parliamentary support from Mr Macron's allies, as well as from the conservative Republicans (LR) and centrist groups.

'The government of the general election losers'

President Macron is hoping for a neutral stance from the far right - but National Front (RN) leader Jordan Bardella was quick to condemn the composition of the new cabinet.

He said on Saturday that this marked “the return of Macronism” and therefore had “absolutely no future”. Meanwhile, far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon called the new line-up “a government of election losers”.

He said France should "remove" the cabinet "as soon as possible". Socialist Party leader Oliver Faure also criticised Barnier's cabinet as "a reactionary government that despises democracy".

Even before the announcement, thousands of left-leaning protesters took to the streets of Paris, Marseille and elsewhere on Saturday to protest against a cabinet they say does not reflect the results of parliamentary elections. The new cabinet includes no one from the left-wing NFP bloc.

Mr Barnier will deliver a key policy speech to parliament on October 1. He will then have the urgent task of presenting a budget plan to the French parliament to rein in France's growing budget deficit and public debt - the first major test for his administration.

France's public sector deficit is expected to reach around 5.6% of GDP this year and exceed six percent by 2025, while under EU rules the deficit must be capped at 3%.

The first meeting of the new cabinet is scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon.

Hoang Anh (according to France24, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/phap-cong-bo-noi-cac-moi-phe-canh-ta-va-canh-huu-len-tieng-phan-doi-du-doi-post313360.html