How Michel Barnier's new government has turned to the right – and into a dead end
On Saturday President Emmanuel Macron appointed France's most rightwing government in twelve years. All factions on the Right are represented in prime minister Michel Barnier's team, even if this has meant disregarding the results of the parliamentary elections held back on July 7th. The appointment of Didier Migaud, a former leftwing MP, to the justice ministry serves as a token gesture to the Left. Otherwise, the sharp shift to the Right is clear, as is the rickety appearance of the whole edifice. Mediapart's political correspondent Ilyes Ramdani gives his analysis of the new government team.
IsIs it a good situation, then, to be a minister under Michel Barnier? “You know, I don't think there's such a thing as a good or bad situation,” the thirty-nine members of this new government would surely reply, paraphrasing the character Otis in the film 'Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'. After all, life is “first and foremost about encounters, people who have held out their hand” the scribe in the 2002 film adds.
