PARIS, Sept 19 (Askume) – French Prime Minister Michel Barnier will address President Emmanuel Macron and announce a Cabinet list on Thursday, after months of political uncertainty following snap legislative elections, and the country could form a new government on Thursday.
Two weeks ago, Macron appointed former Brexit negotiator Barnier as prime minister.
Bernier’s difficulty in choosing a name for his new government underscores the complexity of France’s political landscape following Macron’s ill-fated decision to call an early legislative election.
The vote in early July destabilized Congress, making political unity difficult to maintain, and leaving France in the hands of a caretaker government.
Macron will now have to approve Bernier’s cabinet.
Barnier has named conservative senator Bruno Retailleau as interior minister, while Jean-Noel Barrot will be promoted to foreign minister after he previously held the European affairs portfolio at the ministry, BFM TV reported.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu will remain in office, while 33-year-old MP Antoine Armand will take a senior post in the finance and economy ministry, BFM TV reported.
Barnier’s office said the government’s priorities would include increasing the public’s purchasing power, ensuring security, controlling immigration and better managing public finances.
Sorting out the list of leaders of France’s main government agencies has been challenging, especially when the next government faces a politically toxic round of spending cuts or tax increases to improve the country’s finances.
Barnier will need to tread carefully to avoid angering the opposition, which could unite and topple his government in a no-confidence vote.
“The prime minister must learn to communicate with a parliament with different sentiments and temperaments in order to secure a majority,” the European intelligence agency said in a report.
