Macron gives far-right 'best of both worlds': Role of kingmaker who's 'not accountable for anything'

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00:00Michel Barnier has begun his first full day as France's new Prime Minister.

00:06President Emmanuel Macron appointed him the former chief Brexit negotiator on Thursday.

00:13That ended two months of endless talks.

00:17France's hung parliament is dominated by three minority blocs that are bitterly opposed.

00:22As Barnier took over from outgoing Gabriel Attal, he promised respect for all political

00:27forces.

00:28Take a listen.

00:33Ladies and gentlemen, this new page will also see changes and ruptures.

00:39Finally, we will need to listen carefully and show a great deal of respect, first and

00:44foremost respect between the government and parliament.

00:49Respect for all political forces and I mean all the political forces represented here

00:55and I'm going to start working on that this evening.

00:59Respect also for the social partners, the economic partners and then for the local elected

01:04representatives who are part of this Republican fabric, which is to our credit and to their

01:10credit on the ground.

01:18Barnier thought to be one of those rare leaders whose future government could survive a no-confidence

01:24vote.

01:25Let's listen to the reactions, a furious reaction though, coming from some various

01:30political groups.

01:34Major political figures rushed to TV and radio studios on Friday.

01:40On the left side of the political spectrum, they were eager to criticize the naming of

01:45Michel Barnier, a right wing man, to the prime minister's position.

01:52I'd like to say that I am angry, like millions of French voters who feel betrayed by the

01:58president's decision.

02:02The leftist alliance got more votes than any other group, although they did not get a majority.

02:08Leaders say they will bring a no-confidence vote to parliament.

02:12I don't think anyone from the Socialist Party will join the government, I'm sure.

02:17On the right though, Michel Barnier is likely to have a large choice of candidates for his

02:23cabinet, starting with his own, the Republicans party.

02:26Its leaders met with Barnier to make sure he maintains a right wing agenda, although

02:31centrist president Emmanuel Macron is still at the helm.

02:35Barnier's first challenge, remaining in power, keeping the far right from joining the left

02:40and striking down his cabinet.

02:45If it's not a cohabitation, but simply a continuity of what Emmanuel Macron has done, then we

02:50will be able to vote Barnier out.

02:54This threat from the far right means to many that the national rally will try to pressure

02:59Barnier into passing its policies.

03:02Emmanuel Macron's party dismissed those concerns.

03:08When did you hear that Michel Barnier wants to invite a national rally MP into his government?

03:14What Barnier did say and repeat as he took office is that he would respect all parties.

03:20Other potential candidates for the Prime Minister's post saw their bids collapse after refusing

03:27to work with the far right.

03:31For more, we can speak to Professor Renaud Foucault from Lancaster University.

03:35Hello and thank you for speaking to Paris Direct this Friday.

03:40What did you make of Michel Barnier's appointment as Prime Minister?

03:45I think it's a strange day for France.

03:47It's not anti-democratic, so it will be a Prime Minister with likely a majority supported

03:52by the far right.

03:53But when voters in France went on the 7th of July for the second round of the election,

03:57it was really a referendum against the far right.

04:00So there was a Republican front where candidates from the left, from the center withdrew each

04:04other to make a block, to block the far right from getting into power.

04:07And the result of those consultations of Emmanuel Macron, his choice of nominating

04:11Michel Barnier, means that a lot of those people who were elected to block the far right

04:16will be de facto in charge of a government entirely dependent on the veto right of the

04:21far right.

04:22So this is a very strange moment for France.

04:23It is democratic, but it is definitely not the outcome that most people had seen as the

04:27result of the election, which was a defeat of the far right against the non-far right.

04:32And so looking forward, he still has a former government.

04:35Who do you expect to be in that cabinet?

04:38So this will be a center-right government.

04:40I don't think he will invite anyone from the Rassemblement National.

04:44He will most likely follow what was his bid when he wanted to be president in the previous

04:49election, which is something that is very close, in fact, to the program of the Rassemblement

04:53National.

04:54So very tough on migration, but also something that is close to the traditional right on

04:59spending cuts or putting the budget back on track by cutting public spending.

05:05But at the same time, at every point, we need to make the far right happy.

05:10So we need to find people in government that are not blocked by the far right, that do

05:14not make them angry.

05:15And, of course, what you can expect is that the far right will use that power as much

05:19as they can.

05:20At any point, they can pull the trigger, meaning that they will do it when they find it convenient,

05:24as close, I guess, as possible to the next presidential election.

05:27But does that feel like that this national rally, the Rassemblement National, could be

05:31sort of holding the government hostage to set the agenda, to dictate policy, to get

05:36certain people on board the cabinet?

05:38Well, definitely, this is something that has happened everywhere in Europe.

05:42You had other governments, minority governments with the far right.

05:45The far right used that to get maximum leverage.

05:47At the same point, they showed that they are reasonable people.

05:50Look, they are not blocking the government.

05:52And you know, this is important.

05:53The left and the center left and the far left, they could not agree on someone.

05:57The prime minister today could be Bernard Kasner, so a center left prime minister.

06:02It did not happen because they could not agree.

06:04The far right is showing we are reasonable.

06:06We can do this.

06:07But at the same time, they will not be accountable for anything that happened in the government.

06:11So they are really in the best of both worlds for them, and they can choose as they like

06:15what will happen in government.

06:17All right, Professor.

06:19Thank you very much.

06:20Professor Renaud Foucault speaking to us there.

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