Over 100,000 left-wing demonstrators protested President Emmanuel Macron’s appointment of center-right Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on Saturday. Protests took place in Nantes, Nice, Marseille, and Strasbourg.
The protesters and the far-left France Unbowed party accused Macron of stealing the election after refusing to pick the candidate from the party that won the most seats in parliament – the New Popular Front alliance.
Protesters criticized Macron for appointing Barnier and allowing the far right, which did not win a majority of the votes at the polls, to be in the government.
“The Fifth Republic is collapsing,” said one protester. “Expressing one’s vote will be useless as long as Macron is in power.”
Barnier, 73, was named prime minister after Macron’s unsuccessful legislative election, resulting in a hung parliament among three major parties. A hung parliament is one in which no party has a governing majority.
A survey by Elabe showed that 74% of French people believed Macron had disregarded the election results, with 55% believing he had stolen them.
However, in his first interview as PM, Barnier said on Friday night that his government, which lacks a clear majority, will include conservatives and members of Macron’s camp, and he hoped some from the left.
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