At the end of a long summer of whispers, rumours and stalled negotiations, Emmanuel Macron has pulled off yet another dramatic surprise by announcing that the 73-year-old Michel Barnier will be his prime minister.
Since the president dissolved parliament in June after the resounding success of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in the country’s elections to the European Parliament, France has effectively not had a government. In the parliamentary elections that followed (called by Macron to “clarify” the situation), the president was blindsided by the popularity of the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP). It now has the largest bloc in the French parliament but cannot form a majority. Though it claimed electoral “victory” nonetheless. The result left a vacuum at the heart of French politics. This confused situation has been artificially prolonged by the so-called “Olympic truce” that Macron deployed to ensure maximum stability for the Olympic Games, when France was showcased to the world.
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