France Forms Center-Right Government as Macron Blocks Left-Wing Leadership

French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on July 2, 2024. Aurelien Morissard/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sept. 21 the formation of a new government, after two months of deadlock following a snap election in June that resulted in a hung Parliament.

The new 39-member Cabinet is composed largely of centrist and right-wing politicians, signaling a shift to the right, as Macron appointed members of the conservative Republicans party to key positions.

Macron earlier appointed right-wing politician Michel Barnier, member of the Republicans party and former European Union Brexit negotiator, as the country’s new prime minister.

This is despite that the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition won the most parliamentary seats in the June election. The NFP fell short of the majority needed to form a government, and Macron rejected forming a left-wing government, saying that it would threaten “institutional stability.”

In the new appointments, Macron named 10 politicians from the Republicans party for the Cabinet, with Bruno Retailleau named as the new interior minister.

Retailleau, known for his hard-right views, will oversee the country’s contentious issues including national security, law enforcement, and immigration.

“The French expect only one thing from public officials: results. So I am here to act, with a single watchword: restore order to ensure harmony,” Retailleau stated on social media platform X.

Macron has kept his closest allies in other key positions, including Sebastien Lecornu, who will stay on as defense minister, and Jean-Noel Barrot, the outgoing minister for European affairs, who was named foreign minister.

The post of finance minister went to 33-year-old Antoine Armand, a member of Macron’s Renaissance party. Armand has pledged to prioritize France’s sovereignty, ecological transition, and purchasing power.

“Huge honor to be appointed Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry. Thank you to the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister for their trust,” Armand stated on X.

The public finances portfolios, shared with new budget minister Laurent Saint-Martin, will face the difficult task of putting together a budget bill before January, as France grapples with a spiraling deficit.

The only left-wing politician added to the Cabinet was Didier Migaud, who was appointed as justice minister.

The new Cabinet will meet for the first time on Monday afternoon.

Barnier said in a Sept. 7 TV interview after his appointment as leader of the government that he will respect the voices of “all political forces.”

Politicians from the NFP have already said they will challenge Barnier’s government with their own no-confidence motion. But Macron argued that such a motion would not win enough support.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier speaks during the evening news broadcast of French TV channel France 2 at the France Televisions studios in Paris on Sept. 22, 2024. Julie Sebadelha/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Left-leaning Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of La France Insoumise, has called the new Cabinet a “government of the general election losers.” He said on X that the country should “get rid of” the Cabinet, noting that it has “neither legitimacy nor future.”

Jordan Bardella, leader of the right-wing National Rally party, has also criticized the new lineup as a government with “no future,” saying that it marked the “return of Macronism through a back door.”

No group emerged from the snap election with a clear majority, with the vote evenly split among the NFP, Macron’s centrist political party Renaissance, and the National Rally.

A left-wing coalition, which includes La France Insoumise, the Socialist Party, the Ecologists, and the French Communist Party, emerged as the result of a last-minute political alliance thrown together on June 10 following National Rally’s victory in the European Parliament elections.

Owen Evans and Reuters contributed to this report.