PM Barnier-'We Will Have Gov't Ready Next Week'

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has claimed that "Next week, we will have a government," as he continues meeting with leaders and senior figures from the various parties that are likely to back his gov't and contribute ministers to his cabinet. Barnier: "We will do things methodically and seriously, I am meeting the group presidents,"

• Barnier's comments come as he attends the 'parliamentary days' (meetings of deputies and leaders) of the centre-right Horizons and centrist Democratic Movement (MoDem), both part of the pro-Macron Ensemble alliance. As of yet, his participation in the parliamentary days of the conservative Les Republicains, from which Barnier hails, has not been confirmed but is expected.
• Barnier is currently in the process of putting together his cabinet of ministers. On 10 September he held talks with several ministers from the outgoing administration of PM Gabriel Attal.
• Earlier, Mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine Karim Bouamrane, from the centre-left Socialist Party (PS), said he had turned down an invite to join the Barnier gov't. Bouamrane gained international attention during the Paris Olympic Games, as his jurisdiction covers the Saint-Denis banlieue of northern Paris that hosted the Olympic Village and track & field events.
• Bouamrane has become a vocal critic of the PS leadership for its unwillingness to back a PM candidate from within (the name of former PM Bernard Cazeneuve was touted widely as a possibility), saying "By wanting 100% of something, we ended up with 100% of nothing".