Protests held across France against new PM Barnier - is more action expected?
Police say 110,000 people took to the streets on Saturday but organisers say the number was far higher
Jean-Luc Mélenchon says that the legislative election has been ‘stolen’ by the appointment of the right-winger Michel Barnier as PM
Victor Velter/ Alexandros Michailidis / GERARD BOTTINO
Around 110,000 people (according to police figures) took to the streets around France on Saturday (September 7) to protest the appointment of a right-wing prime minister.
The protests, which were largely peaceful, were organised at the request of the far-left party La France Insoumise.
The major protests followed the appointment of right-wing Michel Barnier as prime minister two months after the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) won the most seats in the parliamentary elections on July 7.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads the largest party within the NFP, the far-left La France Insoumise, reacted to the appointment by declaring on September 5 that the “election has been stolen from the French people”.
Mr Mélenchon had called for a “massive protest”, however while his party claims the protests saw "300,000 around the country", and "160,000 people protesting in Paris”, official sources give far lower numbers: 110,000 around the country (Interior Ministry) and 26,000 in Paris (Paris Police).
A difference in statistics for protests is often reported in France as different counting methods are used by the police to protest organisers
Reaching out to left and right
Mr Barnier, who was reportedly appointed with the tacit approval of the far right, has been attempting to appeal to both sides.
In an appearance on TF1’s Journal de 20 heures on Friday, he conspicuously suggested policy agendas taken from the manifestos of both the Rassemblement National and the Nouveau Front Populaire.
In an apparent bid to please the far right he offered to tighten border controls.
“There is always the feeling that borders are sieves and that migratory flows are not under control,” he said. “We are going to bring migratory flows under control, not with ideology, speeches and phrases, but with concrete measures.”
However, he also promised to reopen the controversial debate over the retirement age, which is a key pledge of the left-wing alliance after a decision to raise it was passed by a contentious decree in 2023.
“I will be addressing the Assemblée nationale and the Senate in the coming weeks on this very serious subject. We are not going to call everything into question.
“This law was passed under very difficult conditions. It requires debate”, said Mr Barnier, 73, adding: “I will open the debate on improving this law for the most vulnerable people, and I will do so with the social partners”.
“We haven't worked collectively enough,” he said. “I've learnt in my public life that every citizen is needed. Good ideas are everywhere. We need to open up the table to anyone who wants to join us.
“We're not going to call everything into question”, he said, adding that he was anxious to respect “the budgetary framework”.
Will the protests continue?
A large majority (76%) of French citizens consider that Mr Macron has disregarded the result of the legislative elections, with 55% agreeing with Mr Mélenchon that the election has been “stolen”, according to an Elabe poll* on September 6.
However, the poll also shows that 40% of voters say that the appointment of Mr Barnier is “a good thing”. In comparison, the appointment of Gabriel Attal had 41% approval, and Elisabeth Borne 36%.
The poll - and the number of protesters - appear to suggest that the level of outrage is not quite as high as Mr Mélenchon would have hoped.
No new protests have been called for as yet. However, La France Insoumise is calling for the impeachment of President Macron - with a petition to this effect already gaining over 277,800 signatures. Many commentators say they are unlikely to give up after just one protest.
*Online poll of 1,007 voters for BFMTV on September 6
