Appointed prime minister on Thursday, Michel Barnier was invited at 20.00 on TF1 to give the first hints about the next appointment of his future government.
Newly appointed to Matignon, where he promised “changes and ruptures”, Michel Barnier began consultations on Friday 6 September with his predecessor Gabriel Attal, now head of the Macronist group in the National Assembly, and the Republican (LR) leaders who are setting their terms of participation in government. Tonight, he was invited to the 20.00 show on TF1 where he clarified his intentions.
“We must open the door”
“At my age, I have no career plan,” the new prime minister first confessed, looking back on his political career and claiming his European experience. “My ability to negotiate made the president choose me.”
“I know it's difficult, but I've always had a certain idea about my country and about France. It's time for everyone in their place to roll up their sleeves, and I will,” declared Michel Barnier. His government will bring together people from the right and the left. “We have to open the door,” he says. “It won't just be a right-wing government, I come from social gaullism, but there will be people from my political family,” says Michel Barnier. “Yes, people on the left,” he adds. “Bigotry is a form of weakness.”
“Because of the crises, the war, maybe we didn't work collectively enough, I will respect all political forces, every citizen is necessary and important,” explains Michel Barnier. “I will meet Marine Le Pen, I will see her. I have nothing in common with the ideologies of the National Rally, which I respect,” he adds.
'Open the debate' on pension reform
Regarding the pension reform, Michel Barnier assures that he does not want to “put everything into question”, but wants to “open the debate” on the most vulnerable people.
The head of government also cited public services that “are also a huge need in urban districts, but also in the countryside”, thus resuming the main lines of the “legislative pact” presented by his party Les Républicains in July, which he needs support in Gathering.