A furious French left has called for mass protests across more than 130 towns and cities on Saturday, after French President Emmanuel Macron named a right-wing prime minister, despite the left’s surprising victory in July’s tumultuous elections.
The New Popular Front, a left-wing coalition assembled to counter France’s rising far right, upset the odds and stunned the nation when it won the most seats in France’s National Assembly, as the majority of French voters rejected Macron’s pro-business centrist alliance in favor of the political extremes.
France had braced for a victory by the far-right National Rally in the elections until leftist parties formed an unlikely alliance at the last minute, pushing the anti-immigration RN into third place and leaving Macron’s centrists in second.
While the leftist bloc failed to secure an absolute majority, the French president ordinarily names a prime minister from the group with the most seats in parliament.
But Macron shunned the left’s efforts to oust the establishment, and instead appointed veteran French conservative Michel Barnier, a longstanding member of the right-wing Republicans party, which finished fourth in the elections.
Barnier, a right-wing politician with more than 50 years in politics, shares Macron’s conservative views on economic policy and hails from the same pro-European establishment as the president. (In France, the prime minister oversees domestic policy, while the president leads foreign affairs.)
A survey published by French pollster, Elabe, on Friday showed that 74% of French people considered Macron had disregarded the results of the elections by appointing Barnier, with 55% believing he had stolen them.
Macron hopes that Barnier will be able to form a government that can survive a deeply divided National Assembly — something he didn’t believe the New Popular Front was capable of.
So far, the leaders of the far right have not confirmed whether they’ll support Barnier’s leadership.
And the left is aggrieved that a successful attempt to finish first in the election somehow resulted in the installation of a prime minister who has been a staple of right-wing French politics for decades.
Calling on people to mobilize against Macron’s decision, La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), a far-left party that makes up part of the New Popular Front, says on their website that the President “refuses to recognize” the result of the election.
It demands that the president “respect the choice of the people” by enacting the New Popular Front’s policies, including raising the minimum wage, lowering the retirement age to 60, and recognizing Palestinian statehood.
Ahead of the elections, France had been rocked by protests, pinning increased economic instability to Macron’s pro-business policies driving voters to the populist extremes of the left and right, who both called for expensive policies protecting France’s social safety net while opposing Macron’s controversial pension reforms.
But it’s only the left who are calling for protests on Saturday.
The roughly 130 protests are expected across the country, including in major cities such as Lille, Montpellier, Nice and Strasbourg, as well as more rural towns in France. Demonstrations at Paris’ Bastille are scheduled for 2 p.m. local time.
A statement on France Unbowed’s website calls for an end to authoritarianism. Macron had said prior to the election that he would reject a coalition that included the France Unbowed party.
During his first interview as prime minister last week, Barnier said groups from across the political spectrum were welcome to back the new government.
It is customary for a new prime minister to present their new policies to the National Assembly, where they can also ask for a vote of confidence. If Barnier chooses not to do so himself, MP’s can table a vote of confidence to try and topple the new PM.
To survive a vote of confidence, Barnier will need to persuade 289 MPs in the 577-seat National Assembly to back his government.
Macron’s centrists have previously allied with the right-wing Republicans while in power, and so Barnier will likely count on the support of the president — who appointed him — and his centrist alliance.
The far-right National Rally party holds almost a third of the seats in French parliament, and Macron’s decision to pick a right-wing Prime Minister makes for a more likely alliance.
Its leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have said they will not take part in Barnier’s administration, but have said they will wait and see what policies he brings before deciding on a vote of confidence.
“He is a prime minister under surveillance,” RN party leader Jordan Bardella told French television channel BFM on Saturday.
“Nothing can be done without us.”
By contrast, neither Barnier’s policies nor his call for unity are likely to placate a outraged left who consider themselves the rightful winners of the election, and his first weekend in charge will be spent monitoring a flurry of protests dedicated to removing him from office.
As thousands begin to take to the streets, the euphoria of the Olympics begins to fade, giving way to longheld frustrations with a government that drove its voters to the extremes, yet still clings to power.
