Barnier Facing Difficulty In Putting Cabinet Together

Prime Minister Michel Barnier is facing difficulty in putting together his cabinet, with another potential minister announcing today that he had been contacted about joining the gov't, only to refuse the invitation. Stéphane Le Foll, who served as Minister of Agriculture under former president Francois Hollande said this morning that in a call on 10 Sep he had been invited by Barnier to become a minister. Le Foll said that he gave "a firm and definitive" no, but wished the new PM "a lot of courage", adding that he expected Barnier to lead a "right-wing gov't".

• Le Foll is the second member of the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) to have publicly refused the offer of joining the Barnier gov't after Mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine Karim Bouamrane did the same earlier this week (see 'PM Barnier-'We Will Have Gov't Ready Next Week', 11 Sep 1203BST).
• The refusal of PS figures (so far) to join the Barnier gov't further narrows the pool of possible ministers and could limit the ability of the new administration to garner support in the National Assembly.
• The actions of the far-right National Rally (RN) will prove crucial. If the party abstains on any censure votes the Ensemble-Les Republicains bloc will outweigh the leftist New Popular Front (NFP). However, if they vote against Barnier then the RN's deputies combined with those of the left would be able to remove the gov't. Earlier, RN spox Sebastien Chenu said "If there are tax increases, obviously we will go as far as censorship..."