With a New PM, Macron Still Isn’t Out of the Woods

With a New PM, Macron Still Isn’t Out of the Woods
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier during the handover ceremony, Sept. 5, 2024 in Paris (photo by Sarah Meyssonnier via AP).

French President Emmanuel Macron named Michel Barnier, a conservative, as the country’s new PM yesterday, two months after snap legislative elections resulted in political deadlock. Barnier is best known internationally as the EU’s Brexit negotiator, but he is a lifelong politician who has served in previous French governments. (Washington Post)

Our Take

The snap legislative elections Macron called in early July left him with a crisis entirely of his own making. The leftist NFP coalition won the most seats in parliament, successfully keeping Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, or RN, from being able to form a government. But no party or coalition won an absolute majority, meaning Macron had to find a PM who could survive an immediate vote of no confidence—no small task.

Barnier’s name only surfaced in the past few days, after nearly two months of speculation during what Macron called an “Olympic truce” and several weeks of protracted negotiations since the end of the Paris Games. But in retrospect, he is an ideal pick, and perhaps the only one that might get Macron out of his predicament.

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