Thousands Protest Across France Against Barnier’s Appointment as Prime Minister – Reports

Thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday at the call of left-wing parties to protest the appointment of right-wing Michel Barnier as the new prime minister, French media reported.

The left-wing French parties of the New Popular Front alliance, which gained the most seats in the latest snap parliamentary elections, have called on the citizens to hold protests across the country after French President Emmanuel Macron refused to appoint their candidate, Lucie Castets, as the head of the government. The bloc’s largest left-wing France Unbowed party earlier announced that at least 138 demonstrations were to be held in different French cities.

About 2,000 protesters have gathered in France’s western city of La Rochelle, while about 300 people walked out on a demonstration in the neighboring city of Saintes, the France Bleu radio broadcaster reported. Another demonstration is scheduled for 13:00 GMT in the city of Angouleme.

About 600 people joined protests in the western department of Dordogne, while between 300 and 400 people protested outside the prefecture building in the southwestern city of Pau, France Bleu said. Some 600 people have gathered near the prefecture’s building in the northwestern city of Le Mans.

“I am shocked by such a rejection of democracy, this rejection of the voters’ voices. The left is in the lead and the most right-wing of all possible people is appointed prime minister,” one of the protesters in Le Mans told the radio station.

The protests also hit the island of Corse where about 100 people gathered in its largest city of Ajaccio to rally against Macron, the broadcaster said.

In Paris, people are participating in a rally against “power usurpation by Macron,” which has been organized by left-wing parties, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The protesters are marching from the Bastille Square to the Square of Nation, the correspondent said, adding that there are several thousand people taking part in the demonstration, chanting “Macron, get out!,” “Macron is a traitor, resign!,” “Stop Macron’s seizure of power!,” “Macron is anti-democracy.” The protesters in Paris are also expressing their opposition to the appointment of Barnier as the new prime minister.

The protest is joined by lawmakers and leaders of the left-wing parties, including the founder of the France Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, the correspondent said.

The rally was attended by 26,000 people, the BFMTV broadcaster reported, citing the city authorities. At the same time, the organizers said that 160,000 people had taken part in the rally in Paris and 300,000 across the country.

On Thursday, 73-year-old Barnier was appointed by Macron to the top post in the French cabinet 60 days after the country’s snap parliamentary elections. Barnier is the oldest French politician in the role, taking over from 35-year-old Gabriel Attal, who was the youngest to be appointed.

The results of the French polls left the country facing a hung parliament, with no party holding a majority. The New Popular Front, a broad alliance that includes France Unbowed, the Socialists, the Greens and the Communists, came out on top in the runoff, seizing 182 seats in the lower-house National Assembly. Macron’s coalition came in second with 168 seats, while the right-wing National Rally party won 143 seats.