# French anti-Barnier government protests

Nationwide protests in France began on 7 September 2024 following French president Emmanuel Macron's appointment of 73-year-old conservative Michel Barnier as the prime minister of France following the 2024 French legislative election, in which the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance won a plurality of seats. In response, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the founder of the left-wing La France Insoumise political party, called on all its supporters to demonstrate across France against the "denial of democracy" that he accused Macron of committing by not appointing a member of the NFP to the position of prime minister, which he stated was ignoring the election results.

## Background

Despite the far right National Rally (RN) party being favored to win a majority of seats during 2024 election exit polls and due to its victory in the 2024 European Parliament election and resulting dissolution of parliament and snap elections called by French President Emmanuel Macron, the New Popular Front (NFP) coalition party formed from several separate left-leaning parties ultimately received the most seats of any formal electoral alliance, with 180 of the 577 seats, resulting in a hung parliament.
NFP leaders called for the appointment of a prime minister from the left, but Ensemble and Les Republicains (LR) figures advocated for an alliance and threatened that any NFP-led government including ministers from La France Insoumise (LFI) would face an immediate vote of no confidence. Post-election negotiations between NFP alliance partners exposed renewed tensions, with party leaders taking until 23 July to select a prime minister – the 37-year-old director of finance and purchasing for the city of Paris, Lucie Castets, although Macron did not signal any intent to appoint her and refused to do so on 27 August, leading the NFP to announce they would not take part in further talks with Macron unless it was "to discuss forming a government". On 5 September, Macron appointed Michel Barnier as prime minister, heading a Parliament divided nearly evenly between the leftist New Popular Front, which holds the plurality of seats, Macron's centrist to centre-right Ensemble, and the far-right National Rally.

## Calls to action

The appointment was met with severe condemnation and ire from the NFP and its supporters, who claimed that Macron's appointment of a conservative PM favorable to Macron's centrist policies was unrepresentative of the voting results, and amounted to a "denial of democracy". Proposed NFP PM candidate Lucie Castets stated that "We have a prime minister completely dependent on National Rally," in response to the National Rally party stating that they would not inherently vote against him, provoking fears that the new government could cater to far-right demands in order to receive votes or abstentions instead of votes against. La France Insoumise's website declared that Macron "refuses to recognize" the election results and issued demands to end authoritarianism and to "respect the choice of the people" by implementing NFP policies, including raising the minimum wage, lowering the retirement age to 60, and recognizing Palestinian statehood.
In addition to La France Insoumise, the French Communist Party and the The Ecologists also called on their members to join the nationwide demonstrations, with the Socialist Party being the only main alliance member of the NFP to not explicitly call on its supporters to participate.
On 6 September, French pollster Elabe released a survey indicating that 74% of French people believed that Macron disregarded the election results, and 55% stating that he "stole" them. Conversely, a 9 September poll by IFOP estimated that 52% of French voters, with a margin of error of 3.1%, are satisfied with Macron's choice of Barnier as Prime Minister.

## Protests

According to protest organizers, roughly 300,000 people held peaceful protests on 7 September 2024, with about 160,000 protesting in Paris. Jean-Luc Mélenchon took part in the Paris marches, giving speeches on a float that bore the slogan "For democracy, stop Macron's coup". Mélenchon exhorted the protesters by saying: "Democracy is not only the art of knowing how to accept victory, but the humility to accept defeat," adding that "There will be no pause, no truce. I call you to a long-term battle" and "the French people are in rebellion. They have entered into revolution." France's Interior Ministry estimated that there were 110,000 nationwide protesters, with 26,000 in Paris. Protests were held in Nice, Lille, Strasbourg, and Montpellier, as well as in several rural areas. Further protests occurred in Montauban, where speakers declared that "the people have been ignored".
Protests were held in 130 areas of France, with many protesters holding banners and shouting slogans hostile to Macron and his perceived effective betrayal by refusing to listen to them, with many calling for his impeachment. Slogans included "Macron Out!, Resign Macron!" and "We're not giving up", while others called Macron's actions a "power grab".
At the 2024 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony in Paris, Macron received jeers from the crowd.

## Criticism

Some politicians from the Socialist Party blamed the NFP's intransigence for Barnier's appointment. Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris, expressed anger at her own party for blocking the nomination of Bernard Cazeneuve, a former Socialist Prime Minister, and called for a party congress. Similarly, Karim Bouamrane, the Socialist Mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, criticised other members of the NFP for their "100% or nothing" approach.