‘Turn to the right’: What Macron’s choice of Barnier as PM means for France

Paris, France – French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday appointed Michel Barnier, a right-wing politician who has been part of administrations since 1978, as the country’s new prime minister, after seven weeks without a premier in office.

Macron’s announcement comes after weeks of deadlock following the parliamentary snap elections in July. But the nomination of a conservative politician has angered many French voters.

The left-wing New Popular Front coalition won the most seats (193) in the snap election for the National Assembly. Barnier’s party, the Republicans, came in fourth, and many on the left feel betrayed by Macron’s decision to pick the veteran politician as PM.

“The left is disappointed because the right essentially suffered huge losses, but Macron still selected a conservative prime minister,” Baptiste Colin, a 29-year-old theatre producer from Lyon who voted for the left-wing coalition in July, told Al Jazeera. “We misread the results in the legislative elections.

“We thought the left won, but it is not the left who gets to represent the prime minister.”

None of France’s political parties or coalitions came close to earning an absolute majority of the 289 seats needed to pass legislation without obstacles. Following the results of the legislative elections, Macron could not choose a prime minister from his own party when its coalition, Ensemble, came in second and only received 20 percent of the vote, according to Philippe Marliere, professor of French and European politics at University College London.

“Having lost the snap election, Macron couldn’t possibly pick someone from his own party – that would have gone against the results of the election,” Marliere told Al Jazeera. “It’s a compromise choice, apparently, but it means that Macron will cohabitate with a conservative prime minister.”

Usually, the prime minister comes from a party that fared better in the legislative elections.

“Barnier comes from the fourth block in terms of electoral strength: the number of MPs. This is unusual, the prime minister should normally come from a more dominant block,” Marliere said.

Macron’s choice of prime minister appears to be moving his cabinet further to the right than under the previous prime minister, Gabriel Attal. In 1982, Barnier voted against ending a French law discriminating against same-sex couples. Previously, same-sex relations had been illegal for underaged people. As a 2022 presidential candidate, Barnier proposed banning non-European immigration for three to five years.

“Barnier is not a centrist. He’s always been part of the Conservative Party,” Marliere said. “Macron could have gone for more moderate figures.”

Why did Macron pick Barnier?

After the fractured mandate delivered by French voters, Macron had two options, said Marliere.

“One was to invite the left, who came out on top, to choose someone. But Macron dismissed this early on, saying that everyone else would censure a candidate on the left,” Marliere said. In effect, a left-led cabinet would be defeated in a vote of confidence in parliament. “He gave an excuse of institutional stability,” Marliere said of Macron.

In choosing Barnier, Macron picked someone whom at least the far-right National Rally (RN) would not censure. With Barnier, Macron could then build a coalition with parties on the right to govern.

Barnier is also known as an expert negotiator, which may have helped drive Macron’s choice. He spent years as a European Union commissioner and served as the bloc’s main Brexit negotiator from 2016 to 2021.

Barnier has “the task of forming a unity government to serve the country and the French people,” Macron’s government said in a statement. “This appointment comes after an unprecedented cycle of consultations during which, in line with his constitutional duty, the president sought to ensure that the prime minister and the government would be as stable as possible.”

Barnier, 73, will be the oldest prime minister in modern French history. He was first elected to parliament 46 years ago and has occupied several positions in right-wing cabinets, including being in charge of the environment, European affairs, foreign affairs and agriculture. He has not been involved in French domestic politics recently, although he did unsuccessfully run as a presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2022.

“He’s a staple in French politics. He’s been around long enough that we can criticise things he did in the ’80s, which on one hand doesn’t feel fair, but on the other, that’s the lifecycle of politics,” Diane de Vignemont, a French journalist focused on politics and history, told Al Jazeera.

“He visits Charles de Gaulle’s memorial every year. He’s a hardcore Gaullist, the traditional, conservative,” de Vignemont added.

Colin, the theatre producer, said that although he was not surprised that Macron avoided selecting a left-wing prime minister, he was dismayed that the president did not look to find someone more to the centre of the political spectrum, who might have been acceptable to more voters.

“Macron made no compromises. That’s what is the most disappointing. I wasn’t expecting much, but I am still really disappointed,” Colin said. “He chose to pick someone who the far right would accept, rather than the left.”

Macron rejected the New Popular Front’s proposed candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets, last July. “It shows the alliance that Macron wants to form since it will be with the far right that he is choosing to govern,” de Vignemont said.

Although Macron’s dissolution of parliament and snap elections were said to be a rejection of the far right, he settled for naming a prime minister who the National Rally would accept.

Marine Le Pen, president of National Rally, said in a statement that she wanted a prime minister who worked for National Rally voters.

“I think Mr Barnier fits this criterion,” she told reporters on Thursday. “On issues of substance, we will wait to see what Mr Barnier’s general policy speech is, how he handles the compromises that are going to be necessary for the upcoming budget.”

What this means for France

By selecting a prime minister that appeals to the far right, Macron is giving the National Rally a form of credibility and power even after their loss in the parliamentary elections, said analysts.

“It’s a shift. It’s a turn to the right for sure. The far right, which was defeated in July, is now in a position of strength, sort of a kingmaker. Macron’s party and the Republicans do not have enough votes without the RN,” Marliere said. “It’s a big paradox that the party [RN] that was defeated, that came third, is in a position to dictate things.”

For de Vignemont, Barnier represents the opposite of the ideals France recently displayed while under the spotlight for the Paris Olympics.

“It’s a sharp contrast to the France we portrayed during the opening ceremony that was very open, very liberal. We’ve gone from a gay prime minister [Attal] to a very conservative one,” de Vignemont said.

Macron’s delayed nomination marked the longest time in the 66-year history of the Fifth Republic that France went without an active government, following Attal’s resignation on July 16.

After Barnier’s nomination, Colin said he fears that voters will not rally against the far right again as they did for the snap elections.

“On the left, we really insisted that everyone vote and fight against the far right. And it worked so well. But I am worried now that people will say that it was all for nothing. Macron proved them right. I’m worried that next time, people won’t turn out against the far right,” he said.

“The country’s état d’esprit [mood] is that no one seems to care. There is little interest in Macron’s nomination. It feels like Macron is just continuing on and nothing’s changed,” Colin said.

The left has called for protests against Macron in Paris on Saturday.