After seven weeks of delays and a series of ‘consultations’, French President Macron announced yesterday the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister from the traditional centre-right Les Republicains (LR), who came fourth in legislative elections where the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats.
This old Gaullist politician, a proven reactionary and declared supporter of a "moratorium on immigration" has been given the desperate mission of forming a government that can hold out until new legislative elections can be called.
A government subject to the goodwill of the RN
The French bourgeoisie needs a government that can place the burden of the crisis on the shoulders of the working class. In the absence of a majority in the National Assembly, Michel Barnier will have to try to govern by negotiating the support or abstention of Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) on a case-by-case basis. In effect, the fate of the Barnier government is in the hands of the RN.
Thus, the so-called "republican front against the RN", proclaimed by the NFP between the two rounds of the legislative elections, resulted in Macron entrusting the position of Prime Minister to a member of LR, a party that refused to participate in this same ‘front’, and whose government will ultimately depends on the goodwill of Marine Le Pen.
RN has also blown hot and cold about Barnier's appointment / Image: European Parliament, Flickr
RN has also blown hot and cold about Barnier's appointment. On Thursday morning, the deputy president of the RN parliamentary group, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, described the now Prime Minister as a "fossil" from "Jurassic Park". However, on the afternoon of the same day, Marine Le Pen announced that her party would not automatically censure a Barnier government, but would wait for the general policy speech to decide on its attitude. Through this blackmail to bring the fragile new government down, the RN intends to dictate its policy to the new government.
However, not everything is that simple. If the RN wants to one day gain power, it must continue its social demagogy. Just a few days ago, RN MP Sébastien Chenu stated: “We will propose the repeal of the pension reform on 31 October” – that is to say, of the hated hike to the retirement age that Macron forced through the assembly last year.
It is difficult to combine this project with support for a government led by Michel Barnier, a staunch supporter of the last pension reform. Generally speaking, the government will have the essential task of implementing austerity measures that the RN will not be able to associate itself with too openly, for fear of tarnishing its ‘anti-establishment’ credentials. It is therefore likely that the RN will end up censuring the next government – when it thinks the time is right.
Regime in crisis
Whatever the Barnier government's life expectancy, it will only mark a new stage in the crisis of the regime of French capitalism. In the eyes of the masses, the authority and legitimacy of the ruling class' democratic institutions have been heavily weakened by this summer's parliamentary saga. For several weeks, an almost unanimously hated President pretended to ignore the result of an election, before entrusting the government to the representative of a party that received the votes of only two million voters out of the 30 million who participated in the first round, that is to say, barely 6.5 percent of the votes.
The only way to force Barnier, Macron and Le Pen to back down is to mobilise workers from as many sectors of the economy as possible / Image: IAEA Imagebank, Flickr
For many workers and young people, this episode is a lesson in the reality of bourgeois democracy, which is rigged in favour of the ruling class. On 30 August, an anonymous reader interviewed by the newspaper Le Monde summed it up in his own way:
“The pension reform has shown that neither demonstrations, nor petitions, nor the mobilisation of unions, of a large majority of associations, nor the opinion of the majority of citizens and even of the majority of deputies have any importance in the eyes of the authorities. And these events show that even voting means nothing if it goes against what they have decided. It seems that the only time Macron really backed down was when the yellow vest movement became violent. Macron constantly criticises ‘the extremes,’ but he fuels the idea that if we are not violent in this society, our voice does not count.”
Mobilisation!
While the National Assembly is dominated by two thirds of bourgeois parties, the only solution to defend the living conditions of workers and youth lies in an extra-parliamentary mobilisation. The regime is weakened; the workers' movement must take advantage of this and go on the offensive.
The call by the Fédération CGT de la Chimie (FNIC) for a "radical" and planned "long-term" strike is a step in the right direction, as is that of La France Insoumise for demonstrations against Macron tomorrow. These first steps must be followed by others. The only way to force Barnier, Macron and Le Pen to back down is to mobilise workers from as many sectors of the economy as possible in a massive and coordinated strike, which aims to put an end to austerity and capitalism.
While the working class produces all the wealth of society, the politics of the country are regulated by arrangements between bourgeois politicians, who all agree on the necessity of crushing workers and youth again and again, in order to defend the profits of a small minority of exploiters.
To overthrow this dying system, a leadership capable of defending a revolutionary programme and perspectives and of linking itself to the vanguard of the working class is called for; a genuine revolutionary communist party is needed. This is precisely the party we are building. Join us!