Michel Barnier presented Emmanuel Macron on Thursday evening with a list of 38 ministers to form his government, which will be announced on Friday or Saturday. Many names are circulating, but not one to embody the opening to the left.
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Bruno Retailleau, Annie Genevard or François-Noël Buffet among the right-wing recruits, Sébastien Lecornu, Catherine Vautrin or Rachida Dati among the survivors of the Attal government. But no trace of rallies coming from the left. Nor any reinforcements from emblematic personalities from civil society. Emmanuel Macron had nevertheless repeated in recent days to Michel Barnier that he wanted a government “balance” and who “comes as close as possible to national unity.”
Balanced, it should be, but only between the various sensitivities of the center and the right. But we are far from being far from “national unity”. Why? Firstly because the left has closed ranks. Even the socialists who accuse PS boss Olivier Faure of having ruined the appointment of Bernard Cazeneuve to Matignon have resisted the temptation. Several were called by Michel Barnier, all refused to join the government. It was easier for Emmanuel Macron to attract left-wing recruits in 2017, the day after his election, than after seven years of a power that began to lean to the right over time.
The precariousness of the Barnier government also weighs heavily on people’s minds. Why take the risk of burning your ships when you fear that the government will fall after a few weeks or months. There remained one last obstacle: the appointment of Michel Barnier is the product of political circumstances, and not the logical outcome of a campaign led on a specific program. Joining a government without a clear roadmap is a journey into unknown territory.
And this lack of openness weakens this team a little more. It is the result of long negotiations between parties. A little whiff of the Fourth Republic which reflects an alliance between the central bloc and the right whose addition weighs 213 deputies. This is more than the New Popular Front, but far from the absolute majority. Since the Republican Front no longer exists, it is the RN which is the master of the clocks in the Assembly to let the Barnier government survive or to bring it down by voting with the left for a motion of censure.