His stance on immigration could prove critical in securing at least tacit support from the far right in parliament. Barnier is in the right-wing Republicans party and has in the past proposed “putting a stop to non-European immigration for three to five years,” a stance close to Le Pen’s own.
“It’s undeniable that Michel Barnier seems to have the same position as we do on migration,” Le Pen told the French daily.
The far-right leader’s implicit support — or at least non-rejection — matters because of the electoral arithmetic in the new French parliament, which is broadly split among the left, right and center. Macron’s choice of prime minister needs to be able to survive a vote of no confidence.
The left-wing grouping, the New Popular Front, has already rejected the appointment of Barnier, with the largest party in the alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed movement, leveling the accusation that the “election had been stolen.”
