French Left Denounces Barnier’s Appointment as Electoral Theft
Michel Barnier, 2024. Photo: X/ @ALeaument
September 5, 2024 Hour: 9:08 am
LFI leader Melenchon called on citizens to take to the streets to defend democracy.
On Thursday, Jean-Luc Melenchon, founder of La France Insoumise (LFI), strongly criticized President Emmanuel Macron for appointing the conservative Michel Barnier as Prime Minister.
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“It’s an electoral theft,” said Melenchon, after recalling that Barnier is a member of the The Republicans party (LR), which secured only 47 out of 577 seats in the National Assembly.
“He is a prime minister who has nothing to do with the election results,” argued the LFI founder, stating that he doesn’t believe for a moment that Barnier will find a majority in the National Assembly to support “such a denial of democracy.”
Furthermore, Melenchon harshly criticized the fact that Barnier was appointed “with the permission and perhaps the suggestion” of Marine Le Pen’s far-right groups, despite efforts to contain their rise in the recent elections.
“It’s the denial of the will of the French people,” emphasized the leftist leader, who called on citizens to take to the streets on Saturday to defend democracy.
The rest of the left-wing parties, which ran together in the New Popular Front (NFP) coalition, were also extremely critical of Barnier’s appointment. Fabien Roussel, leader of the Communist Party, described it as “a slap in the face to the French people,” while the Ecologists leader Marine Tondelier, called it a “scandal.”
The Socialist Party (PS) also spoke of a “denial of democracy taken to its peak.” “We are entering a regime crisis,” said PS Secretary Olivier Faure, who reminded that LR didn’t even participate in the cordon sanitaire to try to prevent what seemed to be a sure victory for the far-right National Rally (RN).
For now, the NFP has not made any statement regarding potential motions of no confidence following Barnier’s announcement, though the left-wing coalition’s position has been clear in recent days, repeatedly expressing that they would not support any prime minister other than their consensus candidate, Lucie Castets.
However, Macron rejected that option, arguing that it would not guarantee stability, as she would be censured by the rest of the Assembly’s blocs, without the 193 legislators of the left-wing coalition —which emerged as the largest force following the July elections— being able to prevent it.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
