Macron appoints ‘French Joe Biden’ as new PM to break political deadlock

London: French President Emmanuel Macron has moved to break a political deadlock after two months without a clear majority in parliament by appointing a veteran conservative figure as prime minister.

Michel Barnier, who developed a huge profile in Britain as the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator, has been tasked with forming “a unifying government in the service of the country,” Macron said in a statement.

President Emmanuel Macron has named EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister after more than 50 days of caretaker government.Credit: AP

France had been without a permanent government since the snap election on July 7, in which the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron’s centrists and the far-right comprising the other major groups.

It is the longest period in the Fifth Republic – which began with constitutional reform in 1958 – that the nation has gone without a permanent government.

At 73, Barnier is the oldest prime minister in the history of modern France in a stark contrast to the man he succeeds, Gabriel Attal, 35, who served only eight months in office. He was first elected as an MP in 1978 as a 27-year-old.

Barnier has had a difficult relationship with Macron. Four years ago, he threw himself into the right-wing presidential primary, and proclaimed himself as the “French Joe Biden” who could be a reassuring alternative to the divisive centrist president.

“You can’t lead France without bringing everyone into the movement,” he said during the 2022 presidential campaign, denouncing Macron as a “vertical, arrogant and solitary” figure.

Macron was under enormous pressure to name a prime minister after a snap election ended up weakening him – his own centrist camp lost seats – while other forces on the right and left fell short of an outright majority.

Although Barnier comes from a rival centre-right party, Les Républicains, Macron set out to find a candidate who could command majority support in the National Assembly and who would not seek to undo the president’s past pro-business reforms.

Barnier said he would seek to address the “suffering and sense of abandonment and injustice many people are going through”.

“We’ll need to listen a lot and show respect, between the government and parliament, and with all political forces,” he said.

Macron had called the snap poll after Marine Le Pen’s populist far-right National Rally party trounced his ruling coalition in the June European elections.

The new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, left, with President Emmanuel Macron.Credit: AP

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, and part of the leftwing alliance which won the most seats, blasted Barnier’s nomination, saying his camp had been robbed after its election score.

“It is not the New Popular Front, which came out on top in the election, that will have the prime minister. ... The election was therefore stolen from the French people. The message was denied,” he told reported.

Barnier, who 20 years ago served as foreign minister under former president Jacques Chirac, is a staunch pro-European and a career moderate politician, but toughened his discourse considerably during his failed attempt to run for his Republicans party for the presidential election, saying immigration was out of control.

Le Pen, a frontrunner to win the next presidential election, cautiously welcomed the appointment despite some in her party criticising Barnier as a “fossilised” remnant of a pre-Macron era.

“Michel Barnier seems at least to meet one of the criteria we’d demanded, which was to have someone who would respect different political forces and be able to speak with the Rassemblement National,” she said. “That will be useful as compromises will be needed to solve the budget situation.”

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