France\u2019s new premier said he hoped to finalise a long-awaited government soon, as President Emmanuel Ma\u00adc\u00ad\u00adron weighed a line-up that marks a shift to the right. The full line-up, which includes fresh faces in almost all key posts, is due after \u201cfinal fine-tuning\u201d, Prime Minister Michel Barnier\u2019s office said, after over two months of deadlock created by inconclusive legislative elections. While there appeared to be no major surprises or big-name entrants into the cabinet, there are set to be new foreign, economy and interior ministers, with only the defence minister remaining unchanged among the key offices of state. Barnier has proposed Europe Minister Jean-Noel Barrot as foreign minister, a source close to Macron\u2019s political faction said. The move would be a major promotion for the 41-year-old, whose slick media appearances have impr\u00ade\u00adssed observers, but boosting France\u2019s presence on the international stage could pose a challenge. Bruno Retailleau, who heads the faction of the right-wing The Republ\u00adicans (LR) in France\u2019s upper house, is to take on the interior ministry, according to several sources. And another meteoric rise will likely see Antoine Armand, the 33-year-old head of parliament\u2019s economic affairs commission, installed as economy minister. One key person said to be staying on is Defence Minister Sebastien Leco\u00adrnu, who is believed to enjoy a close and trusting relationship with Macron. Tense lunch Barnier was at the Elysee Palace late on Thursday to discuss the nominations with Emmanuel Macron. The president could seek to veto the prime minister\u2019s proposals, but doing so would cause immense tensions with his Barnier at this stage. Sources added that names still need to be vetted to ensure they have no conflict of interest before entering government, as is customary. But Macron \u201cwill not censor any name\u201d, said a source close to him. Among the more junior positions, a last-minute controversy arose over the proposed appointment of Senator Laurence Garnier as family minister. The senator is a member of Michel Barnier\u2019s LR party. Macron\u2019s centrist allies strongly protested her nomination to the family brief, with Garnier having opposed both gay marriage and the inscription of the right to abortion in the constitution. There had been tensions between centrist Macron and Barnier over the balance of the government, notably at a lunch earlier this week that was far from cordial. The Le Monde daily said that Barnier had even raised the possibility of resigning just days into the job. The tensions were then resolved on Thursday. \u2018Very serious\u2019 Politics in France has been deadlocked since the June-July snap legislative elections left it with a hung parliament. Prime Minister Barnier, the European Union\u2019s former top Brexit negotiator and a right-winger, was appointed earlier this month by Macron in an attempt to breach the impasse. Key posts were vacant, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stepping down after occupying his post since Macron came to power in 2017, and Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne tapped by Macron to be France\u2019s new EU commissioner. However, there seems to be no place in the cabinet for the ambitious Gerald Darmanin, interior minister since 2020, who has reportedly long coveted the job of foreign minister. The 73-year-old Barnier has already faced a raft of challenges since taking office. He warned on Wednesday that France\u2019s budgetary situation, which has seen Paris placed on a formal procedure for violating EU budgetary rules, was \u201cvery serious\u201d. Macron had hoped to reassert his relative majority in parliament by calling for the elections in late June and early July, but the plan backfired. A left-wing alliance, which nabbed the most seats in the lower house but does not have a working majority, is outraged at the prospect of a right-wing government. On Saturday, the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) and allies joined demonstrations organised in several cities by student, environmental and feminist groups against Macron and Barnier. The LFI hopes to \u201cincrease popular pressure\u201d, leading party figure Mathilde Panot said, after more than 100,000 left-wing demonstrators protested Barnier\u2019s nomination and Macron\u2019s \u201cpower grab\u201d earlier this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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