It has taken an exceptionally long time to form a government in France this time. This has to do with the results of the early elections on July 7. President Macron had called for this after the victory of the far-right National Rally party in the European elections on June 9, hoping to block the party of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.
But it turned out differently. Although his party held up better than expected, the left-wing New Popular Front emerged victorious at the ballot box, while the National Rally was somewhat weakened. In the National Assembly, no camp has a majority, not even the right-wing Republicans. This makes it extremely difficult for the government to govern. France is not familiar with the concept of coalition government.
Although the president appoints the prime minister, the NDP demanded the right to nominate the prime minister itself. This did not please President Macron, who finally appointed Michel Barnier two weeks ago.
The composition of the government team shows that Barnier is trying to bring both the traditional right and the moderate left – the Socialist Party, now a member of the New National Party – into politics. He may be hoping to appease the Republicans and the Socialist Socialist Party.
