Pressure piles on new French government from day one

PARIS: French Prime Minister Michel Barnier´s hard-won new government faced instant challenges on Sunday as threats of a no-confidence motion in parliament multiplied.

The head of government is also under intense pressure to fix France´s fragile financial position, saying a “national effort” was needed to do so.

The long wait for a functioning government after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap general election ended after 11 weeks late Saturday with his appointment of a cabinet marking a clear shift to the right.

Left-wing opponents said they will challenge Barnier´s government with a no-confidence motion as early as next month, with far-right politicians also slamming its composition.

In the July election, a left-wing alliance called the New Popular Front won the most parliamentary seats of any political bloc, but not enough for an overall majority.

Veteran far-right leader Marine Le Pen meanwhile saw her National Rally emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

Macron had argued that the left was unable to muster enough support to form a government that would not immediately be brought down in parliament, and rejected a National Rally candidate over the party´s extremist legacy.

He turned instead to Barnier to lead a government drawing on parliamentary support mostly from Macron´s allies, as well as from the conservative Republicans and centrist groups.

In a TV appearance late Sunday Barnier called for “the greatest possible cohesion” within the government, and for a willingness to find “compromise”.