Prime Minister Michael Barnier’s new cabinet has a significant presence from the conservative Republicans party.
▲ Protesters march with replicas of the guillotine, a symbol of the French Revolution, and banners against the president. The image corresponds to a mobilization in Nantes, in western France.Afp Photo
AFP, Europa Press and AP
The newspaper La Jornada
Sunday, September 22, 2024, p. 18
Paris. Thousands of people took to the streets in Paris yesterday to protest after President Emmanuel Macron appointed his new cabinet – led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier – with a shift to the right to avoid a vote of no confidence in Parliament, where he will be at the mercy of far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
It is an illegitimate government. If the right had won, the right would have ruled.said the leader of the radical left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the New Popular Front alliance that won the majority of votes, but not enough to form a government.
The protests were called by student unions, the environmental NGO Greenpeace, the feminist NGO Planned Parenthood, the Women’s Rights Collective, All of Us, and the anti-globalisation group Attac, France 24 reported.
According to the LFI party website, at least 60 demonstrations took place yesterday.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier presented his new government yesterday, a team dominated by ministers from Together for the Republic, the coalition led by Macron, although with a significant presence of the conservative party The Republicans.
The post of interior minister goes to Bruno Retailleau, a staunch conservative who will now be in charge of domestic issues such as national security, immigration and law enforcement.
In addition, there is the appointment of the controversial senator Laurence Garnier, who will occupy the position of Secretary of State for Consumption, despite the fact that she was initially proposed for the Family portfolio, which provoked criticism for her position against same-sex marriage and protecting abortion in the Constitution.
Jean-Noël Barrot is the new chancellor, a centrist politician from the Democratic Movement party, known for his work on digital transformation and European affairs.
The new finance minister is Antoine Armand, a rising figure in French politics who now faces the task of steering the country’s fiscal policies and managing the upcoming 2025 budget amid pressure from Brussels to tackle France’s mounting debt.
Sébastien Lecornu, who remains Minister of Defence, is playing a key role in strengthening France’s military capabilities, including the modernisation of defence systems and the management of military aid to Ukraine. Catherine Vautrin (Territories) and Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Ecology) are taking over the portfolios.
Among the reactions, the one from the far-right leader Marine Le Pen stands out, who considered that it is a government transitionwhile defending the need for a change in French politics.
Le Pen said she would keep a close eye on the government and had enough votes in parliament to topple it, but expressed a willingness to cooperate on key budget issues.
