The French Socialists’ Olivier Faure said no one from his party would participate in a Michel Barnier-led government, arguing that Barnier depends on the far right.
.@faureolivier : “Quand Michel Barnier dit qu’il va gouverner “avec tout le monde”, à qui s’adresse-t-il ? À la gauche ? Non, à l’extrême-droite, dont il a très bien compris que sa survie dépendait d’elle. Aucune personnalité du PS ne rentrera dans son gouvernement.” #le69Inter pic.twitter.com/iBF2gIrTpM
— France Inter (@franceinter) September 6, 2024
Key events
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he congratulated Emmanuel Macron on the appointment of Michel Barnier.
Had a long and substantive phone call with @EmmanuelMacron. I congratulated him on the appointment of the new Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. The President of France expressed his condolences over the Russian strikes on Lviv, Poltava, and other cities and communities.
On the eve…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 5, 2024
The French Socialists’ Olivier Faure said no one from his party would participate in a Michel Barnier-led government, arguing that Barnier depends on the far right.
.@faureolivier : “Quand Michel Barnier dit qu’il va gouverner “avec tout le monde”, à qui s’adresse-t-il ? À la gauche ? Non, à l’extrême-droite, dont il a très bien compris que sa survie dépendait d’elle. Aucune personnalité du PS ne rentrera dans son gouvernement.” #le69Inter pic.twitter.com/iBF2gIrTpM
— France Inter (@franceinter) September 6, 2024
Michel Barnier vows to address feelings of ‘anger’ and ‘injustice’ as France’s new PM
Angelique Chrisafis
Michel Barnier, France’s new rightwing prime minister, has vowed to address the nation’s feelings of anger, abandonment and injustice, promising a “new era” and a break with the past.
Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, took office hours after Emmanuel Macron appointed him to form “a unifying government in the service of the country” – an attempt to put an end to two months of political paralysis after a snap election.
Barnier, who at 73 is the oldest premier in the history of modern France, said his first task was to “respond as best we can to the challenges, the anger, the feeling of abandonment and injustice that is too prevalent in our cities, on our estates and in the countryside”.
The government’s priority would be education, as well as security and controlling immigration, he said.
Barnier’s appointment was greeted with dismay by the left which will now seek to topple him with a no-confidence motion.
Controversially, Macron appears to be counting on Le Pen’s National Rally to keep Barnier in power by voting against a no-confidence motion. The RN indicated on Thursday it would not automatically vote down Barnier and would wait and see what sort of programme he laid out in his first address to parliament.
Read the full story here.