Macron names Michel Barnier as choice for prime minister | DW News

France's new Prime Minister France's president Emanuel macron has named Michelle barnier as his choice for prime minister some two months after macron's decision to call Snap elections resulted in a parliament without a clear majority the 73-year-old barnier is a conservative politician who's served in previous French governments and was tasked by the European Union with leading brexit negotiations with London the farri national rally party which holds the most seats in the lower House of Parliament says it is undecided on whether or not to back Cole Stangler, Correspondent barer all right I want to bring in now correspondent Cole stangler he joins me from Marseilles in France Tonight Cole good to see you again you know the story of the dysfunction if you will of French politics goes all the way back to this past June with the European elections then we have the snap elections in July give us a sense of how difficult the task of forming a new government is going to be for Miss Michelle barnier well it's it's going to be very difficult could take days uh it could take weeks the the key kind of uh deadline they have in mind or or the key sort of key issue they're thinking about is once B is able to figure out a government that he thinks is going to appeal to the National Assembly um he's going to have to uh to give a speech before Parliament and at that point the question will be is whatever B's work is done in the meantime in those in these coming days and these coming weeks is that government going to be able to survive a motion of no confidence that's kind of the big question here can his government survive the opposition of uh half of of the National Assembly so 289 MPS that's a big question and we're going to see this being answered you know in part at least over the coming days and weeks by the kinds of choices he makes for for ministers do we know what is it that barnier has or has said that makes Emanuel macron think that this is the right man for this job right now well I I think there are to simplify two two big reasons uh one is bah is someone who's well regarded by the French business establishment also by the European political establishment the EU um France is in a particularly difficult uh uh economic situation right now a very important budget that they have to get approved by the end of the year um and so barer is seen as someone who's trusted uh by the business Community someone who is is sort of a trusted H to to to continue M's economic policies and to make sure that that budget um uh gets the approval also of of of the European Union because France overshot its its deficit last year so France is actually in the in the the procedure for excessive deficit according to the EU so there's a lot of pressure to have a budget I think that's one very important reason uh the other one is that um M has made the calculation that this is a prime minister that's going to be able to like I said withstand that motion of no confidence and more particularly someone who's going to be able to appeal to the the far right National rally um once makon decided that he was not going to name a prime minister that was going to win the support of the left de facto that meant finding a prime minister that's going to be able to be at least tacitly supported tolerated by the far right and I think that's the other big calculation here B is someone who's quite conservative you know ran for president uh with with the right-wing Republican party talking about a moratorium on immigration he's seen as someone who is at least palatable to the National rally I want you to take a listen to something said by the French leftwing leader Jean Luke melanon after news of macron's announcement concerning barnier take a listen our reaction is not focused on the qualities of this person Michelle barer that is not the issue the issue is that the president has just decided to officially deny the results of the elections that he himself [Music] called Co doesn't he have a point there Emanuel macron called the vote three years early in the wake of his coalition's disastrous results in the European elections I mean right-wing parties they don't have a majority and yet a conservative is now the new prime minister that doesn't seem very Democratic right well you know to to to be clear um you know we look at the French Constitution Emanuel m is the president does not have an obligation to you sorry he has he can name whatever prime minister he wants under the French Constitution he does have that constitutional prerogative that's his um but what I think melon SCH is getting at um is you know when you look at those elections that that you refer to um the left-wing Coalition the new popular front want a plurality of votes pretty evenly split among three blocks the maconis the left and the far right but the left had a plurality and so in countries that have more prominent parliamentary systems um you know there are sometimes traditions in which you at least ask the party that has the most votes the Coalition with the most votes to try to form a government maybe it doesn't work but at least give them the opportunity um M repeatedly refused to let the new popular front that left-wing Coalition um have a prime minister of their choosing and so that's what melon's reacting to in part and I think there's another bigger frustration that he's sort of tapping into which is this idea of at the polls you had French voters majority of French voters voting either for Centrist parties or leftwing parties against the far-right national rally in in this revival What's called the Republican front in France um and what we have now is a prime minister that in many respects is designed to again at least win the tacet support at least be tolerated by the far right and for a lot of people especially on the left um that makes them quite uh upset and I think we're seeing that in that reaction from from so where does this leave then the farri right National rally party will will it be able to undermine and possibly depose barer well you know I think the the first thing is is uh if we're we're at the step right now it means that they're at least willing to to out Michel B that was not the case for other Prime Ministers names who were floated by m the far right the national rally said no no no way they're at least willing to hear bah out and that's what they've said uh Jordan B bardel the president of the national rally has said he wants to wait and hear that that inaugural speech of barer once he has a government to decide whether or not they're going to to support a motion of no confidence or not so um right now they're at least open to the possibility it's going to depend on his cabinet it's going to depend on that speech he gives so what about Mr Bar's policies I mean the world if the world is familiar with him they know him as The brexit Negotiator so um beyond that what changes will he try to make or what policies will he pursue as prime minister do we know yeah it's it's really hard to say I think that number one priority which I alluded to before and that I think everyone's expecting him to to um to deliver on is is is that passage of a budget that is able to be supported by the French business uh community and also supported by uh by the European political establishment that's what B's main priority is I think at the end of the day um beyond that um you know it becomes a little bit more uncertain he gave some very brief remarks today uh where he talked about the importance of schools um immigration National Security um jobs but but you know very vague unclear I think it's going to depend on again those choices that he makes for his cabinet ministers and we'll know more when he gives that big speech before uh parliament in in the coming weeks correspondent Cole stangler reporting tonight from Marseilles in France Cole as always we appreciate your time and your reporting thank you thank you