So Macron will just appoint a new prime minister, right?
Yes, but it’s not that simple.
The French National Assembly is divided into three political blocs: Macron’s centrists, the far-right National Rally, and the left-wing coalition. The three groups are poles apart on politics and refuse to work together, meaning that any new government could be toppled in days.
“To appoint a new government, you need to find a political space to support it,” Morel said. “But the centrists can’t support even a soft center-left candidate such as [former PM] Bernard Cazeneuve because they hate the far-left France Unbowed party” which is allied with the Socialists, he said.
Macron could appoint another right-wing prime minister, much like Barnier, who would have the support of the centrists and the conservatives, and who, also like Barnier, could try to curry favor with Le Pen.
But that person would have to make substantial concessions to the far-right leader after this week’s showdown, in order to survive.
Otherwise, it would be like asking Le Pen to “eat her own words,” Morel said.
