President Macron of France appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister of that country yesterday. By doing so, he has lived up to the neoliberal expectation.
Barnier has, whether as a former French cabinet minister or as a former European commissioner, as well as by being the European official who negotiated Brexit, a long history as a member of the French right-of-centre neoliberal elite. This, no doubt, in the view of President Macron, made him an ideal candidate to be French prime minister.
There is, however, just one problem with that appointment, which is that he is very obviously not the choice of the French people.
Barnier's political associations link him to the grouping that came third in the unnecessary French general election that Macron called in June. As a consequence, it is very unlikely that he will win the support of Marie Le Pen, whose far-right party has the largest number of seats a single party holds in the French parliament, or of the left-of-centre coalition, which was the overall winner of that election whilst having insufficient seats to form a majority government.
If evidence was needed that the neoliberal Single Transferable Party seeks to retain power whatever the outcome of a general election, refusing to accept its rejection by either the left or right, then this appointment is that.
People, including the vast majority of readers of this blog, will have rightly recoiled at the actions of President Trump in January 2020 when he staged what was, to all intents and purposes, a coup that was intended to keep him in office despite his having lost the US presidential election. The question does, however, have to be asked as to what democracy means if, as Macron and Barnier are making clear through their actions, the clearly expressed will of an electorate can be ignored when it comes to the appointment of a prime minister and so, presumably in turn, a government.
I believe that democracy is important. I think it is the only way in which a majority of people, including those who disagree with the outcomes of particular elections, can be persuaded in a modern, mass communication society to accept the role of government and what it demands of people without recourse to some form of despotic imposition.
But if democracy does not seem to be respected within the echelons of power, as would seem to be Macron's intention in France, of what value is it? Are we, in that case, already living in a form of kleptocracy, the reality of which is only just becoming apparent, both in France and now in the UK, given that it is clear that Labour will be governing in the same fashion as the Tories who preceded them?
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
The lib dems came 4th in the last Durham council elections behind Lab, Con and independents if grouped together. The Lib Dems currently lead that council because they can put together a coalition. It can be done. What we don’t know in France is who the earlier PM choices were, but you have to suspect that they so obviously couldn’t do cooperation with enough of the elected members chosen by the French, that it wasn’t worth asking them.
There is no evidence Barnier can form a government as yet.
You think that there is evidence he could put together a coalition to get parliamentary approval and then last a year with a lame administration.
That is the best Macron can hope for
Hence my suggestion
Barnier was rejected by his party in the last presidential elections. In this election Barnier’s party was rejected by their traditional right wing voters.
This outcome is like the Tory party winning 6.6% of vote and then the king makes David Davis prime minister. Surely questions would be asked.
Where is the evidence that parliament supports David Davis.
As I have never heard of this person, he cannot be that important! LOL! LOL!
He must be a lightweight and/or an antique rank& file party member pulled out of an attic in a dilapidated country house by The Daily Fail.
@ BayTampaBay
“As I have never heard of this person, he cannot be that important! ”
I appreciate you are being jocose, but why would you be expected to have heard of a “cheese eating surrender monkey”?
FFS I’m British and had forgotten that his name is linked with the Brexit negotiations. (For which I, in no way, regard him as being villainous) As you say in your later post he is probably/possibly more pro-EU than pro-France. French affection for the EU is largely down to containment of Germany (there’s a lot of history in there). They like it (he EU) because they happily ignore most of the rules of association that they don’t agree with. The British supposedly hated the EU because they are congenitally respectful of rules however senseless they are. Respectful of them, but deeply resentful too.
As things are or seem to be moving, in France it is surely only a matter of time before Madame Guillotine makes a comeback.
We British are forbearing in a way the French have traditionally not been.
What is the French for “thus far and no further”…..? *
Americans, I believe, owe much to the French in terms of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite, but seem to have lost most of it except for the iconic Statue of Liberty and some emotional hogwash. Though I’m told by those I know who have visited the States that Americans are generous and hospitable hosts and I’m firmly of the opinion that not only the worst, but also the best of the virtues of civilisation are to be found and experienced there. (I’ve not yet visited)
It’s a pity that the worst seem to rise to prominence and be newsworthy. As elswhere. Including here.
*’Jusqu’ici et pas plus loin’ according to Google translate
As I intimated elsewhere, Macron’s ruse reminds me of the obduracy I saw in Theresa May’s government which – tied in knots by swivel eyed loons over BREXIT – became completely dysfunctional. She should have called an election but instead chose to put the party before country and we know what happened next.
Macron has chosen a continuity Prime Minister and it is nothing but barefaced self-preservation and obduracy plus no doubt a fair amount of back room support from those who will have rich pickings from the French state as it too takes a Thatcherite turn.
I am a bit of Francophile and enjoy their cinema and literature which has increasingly begun to reflect the impact on French society of the ‘Grantham culture’.
Those of us familiar with the pillars of Neo-liberalism will know that at its heart is the denial of the state to such an intellectual degree (Buchanan and ‘public choice theory for example) that really what the Neo-libs have done is justify breaking it if not destroying it by any means possible and remaking the state into a servant of the freedom for capital.
This sort of behaviour – whereby a group determines that something in society is invalid, or as John Gray has said – humans just using words to dehumanise or invalidate the other side – opens the doors of hell and can result in anything from the undermining of democracy to murder.
This behaviour is also the hallmark of many extremists groups – Christian, Muslim, nationalist etc., – and also Neo-liberalism.
So, democracy is valuable in containing this behaviour, but its treatment of causes like those seen in Northern Ireland for example has been clumsy and counter productive. However, democracy can also be used as a redoubt to protect this behaviour if it is located within the democracy itself. That is the conundrum we are faced with – the capture of democracy by those working against it from the inside.
So really some stark options reveal themselves. One thing for sure is that the French people seem to lead the way in Europe in how to tell their government that they’re pissed off. And I admire that. But is it enough?
I fear not. But you an accountant, and this is all about money – follow the money in politics and we can remove the problem. But what exactly does that take?
Anyhow, trust you to put up a really interesting post when you’ve told us moderation will be slow!!!! I have to smile…………………………
@ Pilgrim Slight Return
“….Christian, Muslim, nationalist etc., – and also Neo-liberalism.”
hmmm…. I hadn’t thought of neoliberalism as a religious movement, but you are making a cogent point.
I see economics as a quasi religion, but hadn’t really identified neoliberalism as a sect which, when it comes down to it, is what it is.
Hmmmm….. thanks for that thought.
Where is this democracy you speak of in Northern Ireland ? Asking for a ‘blow in’ of 28 years residency. Despairing sarcasm aside, the abuse of the Petition of Concern in the St Andrew’s Agreement of 2006 by extreme British Unionism gifted the the DUP a de facto political dictatorship. A boon that went to their narrow minded heads leading to their feverish support of Brexit, hoping it would return to a hard border in Ireland. Until such time as this political legislation is dissolved and fully integrated education introduced here, the sectarian parochial backwater mentality will continue to poison the political wellspring.
Two points –
Barnier comes from Les Republicains, who came a distant 4th, not 3rd, in the election, with 47 seats (about 8% of the Parliament).
And Macron’s reasons for rejecting alternative candidates for prime minister do not seem to have been inability to command a majority; rather, he doesn’t want a prime minister who might reverse his recent right wing pension `reforms’; which pretty much amounts to him refusing to acknowledge the outcome of the election.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/michel-barnier-emmanuel-macron-france-marine-le-pen
The French constitution gives the President the power to appoint the printer minister. The French electorate don’t get to vote on who becomes PM. That might not fit with some people’s expectations of what constitutes democracy, but them’s the rules in France.
Agreed
But he still ignored their views
@ Mark Scott
“….the printer minister”. !!
Don’t you just HATE predictive text and computers and all their works? I do. I fear artificial intelligence as being sure to be far worse for our sanity and peace of mind than the artificial stupidity to which we have (almost) become accustomed. 🙂
This article by Aurelian adds detail to the the comments made in the blog (with which I agree):
https://aurelien2022.substack.com/p/the-machine-stops
What the article fails to address is “realities on the ground” which can be summarised as “no jobs & few prospects in much of France”. This is not because jobs (or prospects) could not be created, the problem is that the selection process for politicos (France, Germany, UK etc) is all the same and is focused on compliance and “machine-men/women” as opposed to those with imagination or capability. The machine men then engage in Potemkin actions, making places with no jobs or no prospects “pretty”, e.g. Argenton sur Creuse. The town has been “regenerated” i.e. made pretty (& the river is nice to swim in – gosh fancy that) but there are still no jobs – the main employer in the region (garment factory – Chateauroux) closed, a thousand or so women lost jobs. Barnier & the Paris politicos are functionally incapable of action addressing the problem in Argenton/Chateuaoux and the thousands of other places in France. At this point you may be thinking – well if you are so clever – why don’t you do something? I’m 68 I’m still working now (cos I enjoy it) & I don’t have the bandwidth to sort out France’s problems. One thing for sure – Barnier and most of the current political parties are functionally incable – a point well made in the Aurelian article and also by Richard. The political imbeciles think silver bullets are the way forward – what is needed are small/medium sized “experiments” in developing jobs – ground in the local economy or the potential in a given area. Most political structures are deeply unsuited to do this. Gotta finish – e-mails calling.
I commented on your last post about Macron, Richard, that he seems to be following the same path that the Establishment followed in Europe in the 1930s, that facilitated the rise of fascism.
(The fascists did not win majority support. They won sufficient support to cause political breakdown and paralysis – until ultimately some underhand constitutional mechanism. or force, was called on to break the deadlock. Rather than let a left-wing government actually govern, the political centre opted, blindly, for the extreme right.)
This perspective is thoroughly reinforced this morning by the appointment of Barnier – who shockingly lurched to the extreme right in his own recent bid for Républicain candidacy. The problem is not that Barnier won’t be acceptable to the RN – but that he WILL be, at least for now. Macron is quite specifically aligning himself with the right, against the left.
I think that likely
While the chances Barnier will succeed are small, from what I understand of current French politics the best chance is having someone outside the main groupings trying to put together a coalition.
There are three groupings with almost identical numbers, and who have each refused to serve under a Prime Minister from one of the others. To succeed parliamentary votes will be required from at least two of those groupings. It needs someone with exceptional negotiating skills who hasn’t got one of the main groupings as a power base.
In attempting the impossible, Barnier has an additional useful talent which we in the UK know well: to remain polite and patient when negotiating with idiots.
I think he will last a year with a lame administration
Big error in the summary:
Michel Barnier belongs to the Republican party (LR) which came a very distant fourth (not third) in the recent elections. It was Marine Lepen’s party (FN) who came third, close behind the left coalition (NFP) and Macron’s group (Ensemble).
Otherwise, I fully agree with your conclusions.
I think I got MPs elected, not votes, right. That was my aim, but if I got it wrong, sorry.
If my local district council is anything to do with it, it comes down to personalities, mainly egos. The last district election removed many Tories, and Labour only needed one independent or LibDem to have a majority. They passed on it, and the Tories kept major posts. The excuses given were feeble, though certainly egos and intransigence on all sides played a major part. Neoliberalism and the STP may be a big factor, but sheer ego and peevishness are too often there writ large. My new local MP epitomises these virtues.
[…] Of what value is democracy when those in power ignore it? Funding the Future […]
[…] What good is democracy if those in power ignore it? Funding the future […]
After researching Barnier on the internet (I know…I know…), he seems to me to be more pro-EU than pro-France. If this is true, I am sure Marie Le Pen will have lots to say that might not be so nice.
I predict more demonstrations in the streets of France. Could it be possible that Barnier will unite the Far-Right and Far-Left. People with a common enemy become strange bedfellows as the USA has proved again and again.
Writing from France. Thanks for the piece mentioning our dreadful situation – a genuine betrayal of democracy. What many commentators outside of France are missing is that the only person Macron openly & ultimately consulted in choosing a prime-minister was the very Marine (not Marie) Le Pen who you think will not approve a Barnier government. Macron has done this after: 1) dissolving the National Assembly for who-knows-what reason (megalomania is the one most tossed around) and then instructing the French electorate to NOT vote in either Le Pen’s party (the RN) or the far-left party of Jean-Luc Melenchon (the LFI). Macron lumped the two together as being “anti-Republican” and “extremist;” while neither party could be called “centrist,” if you read the platforms of each the RN is openly anti-republican while the LFI, whose politics are indeed on the far left end of the spectrum, mentions no policy that could be construed as attacking the institutions of the Republic. Further, excluding the candidates for PM named by the left-wing, NFP, coalition (with whom Macron would not even consult) there have been two other plausible candidates proposed, one each from the centre-right and the centre-left. Michel Barnier, in the most recent post-Brexit stage of his long career, abandoned his longstanding Gaullist convictions, and ran for president in 2022 at the extreme-right end of the “conventional” right-wing party on an anti-immigrant platform very close to that of Mme. Le Pen’s. He didn’t make it through the first round, nor did any other candidate from his party, Les Républicains. In these legislative elections, Les Républicains only obtained 5.4% far below other parties. Some people here are seeing this as sort of crypto-coupe for the extreme right. Whether or not that is the case, the National Assembly is a mess and any government that gets formed won’t last long.
Thanks – appreciated
Well worth a read if any of you are so inclined. If not, just scan the preface
https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691178493/against-democracy
I scanned it
And I concluded it’s the work of someone profoundly arrogant