MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Macron picks the seasoned Barnier for French PM job

Barnier’s appointment follows snap parliamentary elections that left France with a divided political landscape

The 73-year-old Barnier has served four times as a cabinet minister and as the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator. On July 16, Macron accepted Gabriel Attal's resignation but asked him to stay in office on a caretaker basis until a replacement could be found.

With a deeply divided Lower House, French political analysts foresee tough challenges on the domestic front for Barnier, who has served as minister of finance, agriculture, and foreign affairs, among other positions. He is hoped not to challenge Macron's pro-business reforms, including lower corporate tax, a loosening of the labor code to make hiring and firing easier, scrapping the wealth tax, and the contested pension reform that upped the legal retirement age to 64.

Barnier's resumé also includes a long stay in Brussels having twice served as an EU commissioner. His appointment follows snap parliamentary elections that left France with a divided political landscape after the leftwing NFP alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon of LFI won the most seats, but no party secured a working majority. After Barnier's appointment was confirmed, leftwing groups are planning anti-Macron protests for Saturday.

Both the LFI and the Socialist Party have pledged to do their utmost to topple Barnier, while the rightwing National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen, which holds 143 seats, is yet to adopt a policy regarding the new head of government. However, it admitted it would not immediately try to vote him down. “Barnier seems at least to meet one of the criteria we’d demanded, which was to have someone who would respect different political forces and be able to speak with the National Rally,” Le Pen said. Her party is always ready to pull the rag under Barnier if he lowers the guard on immigration, security, and budget issues.

In France's South American territory of Guiana, Barnier's choice was welcomed by local rightwing politicians while those on the left side of the spectrum were disappointed. Fabien Covis, a local spokesman for “Les Républicains,” hailed Barnier's 50-year experience, while Jean-Victor Castor, an MP for French Guiana's 1st constituency, is found Macron's decision “scandalous.”

“Macron has pulled another political stunt, he's appointing someone who has no legitimacy at all,” he argued. “We'll work with whoever is in place, but naturally there will be a notion of censure and I think I'll take part because we have to respect the voters.”