Macron Ends Weeks of Uncertainty With Announcement of New Government

Emmanuel Macron approved Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government proposal on September 21 (Wikimedia)

French President Emmanuel Macron announced his new government on September 21, bringing a decisive, albeit controversial, end to months of election uncertainty. NPR frames the new parliament as an emerging alliance of conservatives and centrists resulting from painstaking negotiations between Marine Le Pen’s conservative National Rally Party and Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party. 

According to Aljazeera, the announcement follows the French elections which resulted in a hung parliament. At the time, France’s left-wing bloc, the New Popular Front (NFP), had won the most parliamentary seats but ultimately failed to secure the majority. Macron determined that the left’s victory would likely cause the eventual downfall of the government in parliament, and instead asked his prime minister to establish what he says will be a more effective government. According to Anadolu Agency, Macron’s announcement prompted widespread protests by NFP supporters who suggested that Macron has disregarded the results of the elections earlier this summer and widely ignored the vote of the people. These protests, largely taking place in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, demand the resignation and impeachment of the president. Protesters cite the so-called “disregard” of election results as a critical threat to French democracy.

According to BBC, France’s shift to the political right is reflected in the 39-member cabinet, in which Didier Migaud, the new justice minister, is the sole left-wing politician. Conservatives and Macron’s centrist candidates make up the rest of the cabinet. New political appointees include Finance Minister Antoine Armand of the Renaissance party and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a key member of France’s conservative bloc. Marine Le Pen’s conservative coalition views Retailleau’s appointment as an “indirect victory” for the National Rally Party, reports NPR. 

France’s public deficit is only one of many political and economic challenges the new government will face in the coming months, but the large deficit is perhaps the most demanding. The debt reportedly already “far exceeds” the European Union’s guidelines, writes BBC. The EU places a deficit limit of 3 percent of a country’s GDP. France is projected to have a deficit exceeding 6 percent of their GDP in 2025. 

Aljazeera notes that there are also ongoing tensions between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc. Le Pen’s National Rally Party, despite their apparent desire to cooperate and balance power within Macron’s new parliament, maintains enough votes to bring down the government should they so choose. Macron’s new parliament, therefore, is a fragile balance fraught with political issues that remain urgent, especially in the eyes of French citizens. The first “political test” following this announcement, according to NPR, will come on October 1, when Prime Minister Barnier is set to give a highly anticipated speech in France’s National Assembly.