French government reshuffle: PM Barnier appoints right-leaning cabinet

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00:00We can speak to Professor Renaud Foucault joining us on the line from Lancaster, England.

00:05Hello to you and thank you for speaking to Paris Direct.

00:07The composition of this new French government, I believe we see 10 ministers from the Republican

00:13Party who came in fourth place in June's elections, about 12 from Macron affiliated

00:18parties, no one from either the two biggest voting blocs in Parliament.

00:22Prime Minister Michel Barnier going on national television this evening.

00:25How is he going to sell this to the French people?

00:28He's going to sell this as I am a man of responsibility.

00:32I've been asked to take responsibility and bring France back on track.

00:37So I don't think he will enter into any political discussion about the left or the far right

00:42because in the end, it's very uncomfortable.

00:44On the left, he knows that somehow most of the parliamentarians who will support him

00:49from the centre hold their seat to an alliance between the left and the centre, the Republican

00:53Front.

00:54And on the other side, I don't think he wants to speak too much about the fact that his

00:57government needs the support of the far right to exist.

01:00So his only way, I think, to defend himself would be to talk about his own personality,

01:06to say that he's here to find solutions.

01:08And perhaps it might work because it seems that at the moment, Barnier remains a pretty

01:13popular figure in France after being totally unknown.

01:16Perhaps two weeks ago, nobody in France had heard of him.

01:19But is this a democracy in action or is this a travesty of democracy?

01:24I mean, it's a very difficult situation here.

01:27But is this working democratic politics or not?

01:34On October 1st, Barnier will make his first speech and there will be a possibility to

01:40censor him.

01:40If there is no majority censoring him, it means that de facto he has a majority.

01:45So in that sense, stricto sensu, this is democratic.

01:49Now, obviously, I think everyone who attended the French election, who followed that, noticed

01:54that the second round was a referendum against the far right, that the far right lost and

02:00that the government that will be in power will be a government that is held hostage

02:04by the far right.

02:05So the far right will have a chance to pull the plug at any time.

02:08So in that sense, it may.

02:10And I think there is a good case to say it's undemocratic, but the blame game, I don't

02:14know exactly who's to blame, because somehow the left will say we wanted to have Lucie

02:18Castel at prime minister.

02:20We were the first bloc.

02:21It's Macron's fault.

02:22He didn't nominate us.

02:23And Macron will say, no, the problem is that there was a need for a coalition, the need

02:28for a consensus between the center and the left.

02:30And the problem is that you didn't want to to make that consensus.

02:32So we don't know why this is kind of a last resort government.

02:36It is democratic in in fact, perhaps not completely in spirit.

02:40It's not the result of the election, clearly.

02:43And if a measure is brought forward to censor him or a no confidence vote, will this cabinet

02:47survive?

02:49So if there is a no confidence vote, the question is, what does the far right do?

02:53At the moment, Marine Le Pen has said we will not censor.

02:56So I think if Macron has chosen Barnier, there must be some kind of deal.

03:01There must be some kind of discussion with Marine Le Pen that says that at least at the

03:06beginning, she will support it because it's a big bet for Macron choosing someone out

03:11of his heart, which was not a big name advanced by either party.

03:14If if Barnier is censored immediately, it would be totally humiliating for Macron.

03:18So I would expect that the far right is supporting Barnier.

03:22This is also something you see in the choice of Barnier himself with a very conservative

03:26figure of some of his ministers who have you've talked about that background of being anti

03:31abortion, anti gay rights and things like that.

03:34So this is a very conservative cabinet that is meant to be somehow wooing the far right

03:39if they don't support it this time.

03:41Abstaining means support in a vote of no confidence.

03:43If they don't support it this time, Barnier will be censored.

03:46But I don't think it will happen, at least at the beginning.

03:49Running out of time, but real quickly of the 39 posts, which one caught your eye the most?

03:54I think perhaps the absence of any heavyweight.

03:56So the fact that I didn't know most of them.

03:58I think this is a government.

03:59Clearly, people are scared of going there and none of the big names of the far right

04:04or the center is there.

04:06So I think the one that's the most surprising to me is the absence of Laurent Wauquiez.

04:09So not the biggest guy from the right prefer to stay outside and hide.

04:14All right, thank you very much, Renaud Foucault speaking to us from Lancaster.

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