The post-election anger driving Saturday's protests across France
Two days after the appointment of the conservative veteran Michel Barnier as France’s new prime minister, supporters of the leftwing coalition, the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), which came first in parliamentary elections this summer, are holding around 150 protest demonstrations around the country. Originally organised in August after President Emmanuel Macron’s rejection of the NFP candidate for prime minister, the appointment of Barnier, who relies on the support of the far-right for his government, has become the focus of the protests. Cécile Hautefeuille reports from Montpellier, southern France, where she spoke with leftwing activists and non-activists, all equally fired up by outrage at Macron's move.
TwoTwo months after the snap parliamentary elections called by president Emmanuel Macron, the leftwing alliance, the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP), which won 179 seats, will not form a government. Instead, it is Michel Barnier, a veteran member of the conservative Les Républicains party, which garnered just 39 seats, who was on Thursday appointed as prime minister and who is now forming a rightwing government.
