France: Thousands rally against Barnier's appointment as PM

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday to protest against the appointment of Michel Barnier as France's new prime minister.

President Emmanuel Macron appointed Barnier on Thursday, two months after legislative election delivered a hung parliament.

The election saw a left-wing coalition —  the Nouveau Front Populaireor  the New Popular Front (NFP) — win the most seats in the lower house of parliament.

Macron's centrist Ensemble or Together grouping was second and the far-right Rassemblement National or National Rally and its allies were third. 

Barnier is a member of Les Républicains or The Republicans that came in fourth. No grouping won an overall majority.

Left-wing coalition denounces appointment of Barnier

Macron's decision to appoint Barnier, a veteran Conservative figure, over an NFP politician was denounced by the French left. They called it a "power grab" that did not reflect the will of the electorate and undermined democracy.

On Friday night, surveys suggested that 74% of French voters thought Macron had "disregarded" the results of the election, while 55% believed he had "stolen" them.

"The French people are in rebellion, they have entered into revolution," said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the hard-left La France Insoumise or France Unbowed or LFI, the largest party in the NFP alliance.

"Democracy isn't just the art of accepting that you've won, it's also the humility of accepting that you've lost," he added. "There will be no pause, no truce. I call you to a long-term fight."

Why are French voters protesting?

At Place de la Bastille, a square where the Bastille prison once stood, protesters carried placards that read: "Where is my vote?"

Protester Manon Bonijol told the AFP news agency that France was "collapsing." The 21-year-old believed that "expressing one's vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power."

In the southwestern city of Montauban, a rally speaker told the crowd that "the people have been ignored."

Demonstrations had initially been announced by student unions at the end of August and were called by Melenchon's LFI.

French authorities were expecting around 15,000 participants at 150 events nationwide, including around 2,000 people in Paris.

But the appointment of Barnier on Thursday saw them revise that figure to over 30,000, with 8,000 people expected in the capital.

French PM Barnier 'under surveillance' of far-right

While the appointment of Barnier has angered those on the political left, the far-right RN has cautiously welcomed the move.

"This is a man who has never been excessive in the way he has spoken about the RN or wanted to ban it," said party leader Marine Le Pen.

"This is a man of discussion who seems to fulfill our primary criterium, which was for someone who respects different political forces," she said.

Jordan Bardella, who was the RN's candidate for prime minister after the first round of voting, said: "Mr. Barnier is a prime minister under the surveillance of a party which is now unignorable in the parliamentary and democratic game: the National Rally. The reality is that nothing can be done now without us." 

Who is Michel Barnier?

The NFP alliance had proposed Lucie Castets as prime minister, but Macron squashed the idea, arguing that the 37-year-old economist would not survive a confidence vote in the hung parliament.

Barnier is perhaps best known outside France for his role as the European Union's chief negotiator on Brexit.

Domestically, he has held several French cabinet positions, including as Minister of the Environment (1993-1995), Minister Delegate for European Affairs (1995-1997), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2004-2005) and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries (2007-2009).

But critics have wasted no time in digging up his historic parliamentary record — highlighting that he was one of 155 lawmakers who voted against a law that decriminalized homosexuality in 1981.

Barnier's predecessor, Gabriel Attal, was France's first openly gay prime minister and, at 34, also its youngest. Barnier, 73, will be the country's oldest.

mf/rm (AFP, Reuters, AP)