More than 100,000 left-wing protesters rallied in France on Saturday to protest the appointment of centre-right Michel Barnier as prime minister and denounce President Emmanuel Macron’s “usurpation of power”.
The interior ministry said 110,000 people took to the streets across the country, including 26,000 in Paris, while a leading left-wing protester said 300,000 took to the streets across France.
Rallies were held in various cities across France, including Nantes in the west, Nice and Marseille in the south and Strasbourg in the east.
Macron on Thursday appointed Barnier, a 73-year-old former foreign minister who served as the EU’s Brexit negotiator, as prime minister as he aims to move forward after snap elections in which his centrist coalition came in second.
Barnier said on Friday he was open to naming ministers from all political persuasions, including “people from the left”.
But the left-wing coalition, which emerged as France’s largest political bloc after June-July elections although far from an overall majority, has condemned Macron’s appointment of Barnier.
The coalition wanted 37-year-old economist Lucie Castets to become prime minister, but Macron rejected the idea, saying she would not survive a vote of confidence in a shaky parliament.
Many protesters on Saturday vented their anger at Macron, 46, and some demanded that he resign.
‘Old Elephant’
“The Fifth Republic is collapsing,” said 21-year-old protester Manon Bonizol, referring to France’s current system of governance.
“As long as Macron is in power, it will be useless to express your opinion,” he said.
Hardline leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose France Unbowed party (LFI) and allies belong to the left-wing bloc, had called on people to take to the streets and argued that the election had been “stolen from the French.”
On Saturday he urged supporters to be ready for a fight.
“There won’t be any hindrance to this,” he said.
“Democracy is not only the art of admitting that you have won, it is also the humility of admitting that you have lost,” Mélenchon said at the Paris march.
Project manager Alexandra Germain, 44, accused Macron of acting contrary to the wishes of voters.
“Performing is the only way for me to say that I don’t agree, even though I’m well aware that it sucks,” Germain said.
Student Abel Couillier, 20, said he was shocked by the appointment of Barnier, whom he described as an “old elephant.”
“I’m still young, I want to believe that we can change things,” Couillier said.
Mathilde Panot, a leading figure of the LFI, claimed on Twitter that there were 160,000 protesters in Paris and 300,000 across France.
Police said five people were detained in Paris.
‘under surveillance’
Marine Le Pen, who leads the far-right National Rally (RN) MPs in parliament, has said her party will not be part of the new cabinet, and that she would wait for Barnier’s first policy speech in parliament before deciding whether to support him.
“Barnier is a prime minister on watch,” RN party president Jordan Bardella said Saturday.
“I am under the watch of all French people,” Barnier said during a visit to the Necker children’s hospital in Paris.
Barnier will be in charge of the budget, security, immigration and health care.
If he wants to avoid a no-confidence motion in parliament, he will have to take into account the interests of the National Rally — the largest party in the fragmented legislature.
Barnier – who likely only has minority support in the National Assembly – faces the urgent task of presenting the 2025 budget by early October.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
