"Disaster movie," "slap in the face," "zombie government"... On Saturday, September 21, the left had strong words to express its displeasure at the new, very right-wing government formed by Prime Minister Michel Barnier, even though the Nouveau Front Populaire left-wing coalition came out on top in July's snap parliamentary elections. "We'll have to get rid of them as soon as possible," wrote Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X, once "the cast of the new Macron disaster movie" was known.
"The government of the losers of the legislative elections is in the hand of the worrisome interior minister, president of the Senate's dominant group where the content of texts supported by LR will therefore henceforth be decided," developed the founder of La France Insoumise (LFI, left-wing), in reference to the Les Républicains (LR, right) senator Bruno Retailleau, freshly appointed interior minister. A message echoed by the LFI galaxy.
The president of the LFI group at the Assemblée Nationale, Mathilde Panot, thus castigated "an interior minister who talks about the 'French of paper'" and "a government without the legitimacy that holds together thanks to Le Pen's support". "Definitely, Macron is stunting France," she concluded. "We've gone from a victory for the Front Populaire to the government of a reactionary front, which will pursue Macron's economic policy defeated at the ballot box," said the president of the LFI Assemblée Nationale's Finance Committee Eric Coquerel.
The Parti Socialiste (PS), which was divided over the potential appointment of former Socialist figure Bernard Cazeneuve as prime minister, has this time put its internal quarrels to rest, at least on the surface. PS First Secretary Olivier Faure denounced "a reactionary government giving the finger to democracy" and said his party would support a no-confidence vote against the new government. "We're lucky, we have the organized right! It's not a new government, it's just a reshuffle," said the president of the PS group in the Assemblée Nationale, Boris Vallaud, for whom this is not a "revolution" but a "restoration." "The continuation of Macronism... only worse," he said.
Socialist leader Carole Delga, who isn't a supporter of Faure, also pointed to this "new orchestra" playing "the same music" but "even more to the right". "The French were asking for more social and fiscal justice, a genuine ecological transformation. They'll get a right-wing government that's hard on social issues, liberal on the economy and weak on the environment," she added.
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