France's Macron weighs Barnier option in drawn-out search for prime minister

[September 05, 2024]  PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron, who has yet to appoint a prime minister two months after a snap election, is considering whether Michel Barnier, the former European Union Brexit negotiator, would be a viable option, a source said. 

Michel Barnier, former European Union's Brexit negotiator and Les Republicains (LR) French centre-right party presidential primary candidate, attends an interview with Reuters at the Les Republicains party headquarters in Paris, France, November 22, 2021. Picture taken on November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

Barnier, aged 73, led the EU's talks with Britain over its exit from the bloc from 2016-2021. Prior to that, the conservative politician held roles in various French governments and was also EU Commissioner.

A source close to Barnier told Reuters there has been contacts with the president's team, without adding details.

Macron has considered a string of potential prime ministers in recent weeks, none of which mustered enough support to guarantee a stable government, and there is no guarantee it would be different for Barnier or for Macron ally Francois Bayrou, whom French media say is also considered as a possible candidate.

But at least the far-right National Rally (RN), whose party is one the biggest in parliament after the early July election, has signaled it would not immediately censor Barnier or Bayrou, if they met certain conditions.

Barnier is a staunch pro-European and a career, moderate, politician, but he toughened his discourse considerably during his failed 2021 bid to get his conservative party's ticket for the presidential election, saying immigration was out of control - something the RN agrees with.

RN lawmaker Sebastien Chenu told BFM TV that the far-right party would wait to see what Barnier has to say on immigration, and on changing France's voting system.

Lawmaker Laurent Jacobelli, also from the RN, said a condition was that they would agree to dissolving parliament as soon as possible - which would be early July next year.

"The RN wants a prime minister who is committed to dissolving as soon as possible and establishing proportional representation (for parliamentary elections)," Jacobelli told TF1.

Still, the RN was not particularly enthusiastic about Barnier.

"They are taking out of mothballs those who have governed France for 40 years," Jacobelli said.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Dominique Vidalon, Tangi Salaun, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Christina Fincher)

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