Thousands of people demonstrated across France on Saturday against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to elect centrist politician Michel Barnier as prime minister, and left-wing parties accused the president of ignoring the election results.
Macron on Thursday named Barnier, 73, a conservative and former EU negotiator for Brexit, as prime minister, ending a two-month investigation into his ill-fated decision. to call legislative elections which resulted in an inconclusive parliament.
“Democracy is not only the art of knowing how to accept victory, but the humility to accept defeat,” Jean-Luc Melenchon told protesters., the leader of the far-right party France without damage, LFI, at the start of the march in the east of Paris. “I invite you to undertake a long battle.”
Organizers said around 300,000 people demonstrated peacefully across France, 160,000 of them in Paris, although police in the capital said 26,000 people had protested in the city.
The Ministry of the Interior did not immediately give a figure for the whole country, but their figures are usually much lower than those given by the organizers.Barnier, for his part, made his first official visit and met the staff of a hospital in Paris. The worsening state of public health has been one of the areas in which citizens have demanded action after months of delay. “Without achieving miracles, we can make improvements,” Barnier, who does not have a clear majority, told reporters.
On Friday he said he wants to include conservatives, members of Macron’s camp and some from the left in his future government.
But he faces the daunting task of trying to push reforms through the 2025 budget with the threat of a no-confidence vote hanging over him in early October. when she has to present her political goals to Parliament.
2024-09-08 00:41:49
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