It was not easy to negotiate with the British for two reasons: there was no precedent for what they were negotiating and on the other side of the negotiating table was the unpredictable and untidy Boris Johnsonfirst by sabotaging Theresa May’s efforts at reasonableness and then by taking the helm of a drifting ship himself. But Michel Barnier He had the patience, calculation and good pulse for the push and pull of a process that was being invented as he went along.
Having been the negotiator of the European Union (EU) for the realization of the Brexit made this conservative who always played in the second and third lines notable. Even though he negotiated the complex British exit from the EU, his fame was limited until Emmanuel Macron He pulled it out of his hat to disconcert the hard left, the extreme right and even his own people.
It was the most unexpected dribble. The French president played on the edge of French democratic rulesThe French system is a presidential system with a strong dose of parliamentarism, so legislative elections are the ones that normally decide who occupies the post of prime minister, although the final appointment is decided by the president.
+ SEE MORE: Tensions between Venezuela and Argentina grow over threats to enter the Embassy in Caracas
In other words, the head of state is the one who chooses the head of government, but democratic logic and the tradition of the Fifth Republic force him to choose him from the ranks of the party that received the most votes in the parliamentary elections. Well, Macron put aside that traditional obligation And, more than two months after the election in which the leftist coalition won, chose as prime minister a man from the centre-right party which came fourth in the polls, with the agreement of the extreme right which was relegated to third place.
The cunning and elusive French president first tried to create a siege to electorally isolate the far-right National Rally (AN) led by Marine Le Pen. When the electoral surprise ended up being delivered by the New Popular Front, the hard-left and centre-left coalition brought together and led by La France Insoumise, the leftist pro-Marxist party of Jean-Luc Melenchon, the French president turned around and ended up looking for a candidate for prime minister who would not be vetoed by AN so that, with the support of the Gaullist centre-right and Macron’s own liberal party, he could lead the new government.
In this file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron (right) whispers to EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier during a visit to the International Agricultural Fair in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)By: AP
This move, unexpected even by his own people, was facilitated by the fragility of the New Popular Front due to the difficulty of its social democratic faction to support the ideological and controversial Melenchon.
In short, without having violated any law, The French president stole the victory from the leftist coalitionforced the far right to vote in favour of his chosen one and removed the centre-right Republicans party from its defeated fourth place, making it possible for the new prime minister to emerge from its ranks, as if the election had been won by those who lost.
Having played so close to the line will require him to help Michel Barnier to manage his job well in the two years remaining in office. Emmanuel Macron will no longer have room for future dribbles and will no longer have any rabbits left in his hat.
