He has little chance of facing the main candidates
Michel Barnier, a powerful European negotiator who aspires to the presidency of France
Michel Barnier is on a very difficult mission.
AFP
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Michel Barnier has a long list of accomplishments, but will have to work hard to remind the French of them. The former EU chief negotiator has launched a preliminary campaign for the French presidency, and is betting that his charisma and previous experience in government will earn him the confidence of the French, and win the highest office in the country. In 2022, Barnier said: "In these difficult times, I have the determination to stand up and be president," continuing: "For a reconciled France, that respects the French people and receives the respect of others."
Barnier is not yet an official candidate, his Republicans have to decide whether to hold a primaries in the fall, and the Conservative Party has a number of candidates to choose from, some of whom have campaigned long ago, and which one wins party and popular support. The two dominant figures in the 2022 race, so far, will face President Emmanuel Macron and the leader of the right-wing National Front party, Marie Le Pen, but the Conservative Party, which has not recovered from its crushing defeat to Macron in 2017, has not yet agreed on how to choose a candidate, and the competition So far it looks faded.
the first
In addition, the president of the province of "Hauts-de-France", Xavier Bertrand, remains the first in the opinion polls, but he refused to participate in the party's primaries, while the president of the province of Paris, Valérie Pecres, is close with Bertrand.
While his party was stuck in the doldrums, Barnier was preoccupied with Brexit problems with the British.
The cruel irony of Barnier is that, while he is a familiar face to the British, the French have not followed his troubles closely, due to the complexity of the conversations and the lack of apparent influence in their lives.
His return home was far from euphoria, as a candidate for the French presidency must have the charisma to run the country, and the announcement of his candidacy was expected, because Barnier had long been planning a return to French politics, confident in secret that he could see himself as a "team leader".
According to an aide, Barnier's decision, 70, to run revolved around the fact that he believed his experience with the government put him ahead of competitors. Brexit in 2016.
important experience
"His experience is simply important, and he knows local politics in his native region in Savoy, national politics, and the corridors of power in Brussels," said the aide, who preferred not to be named. "This distinguishes him from others, and France needs gravity to run the country." But the main obstacle he will have to overcome is his perceived lack of charisma and lack of public appearances.
“It is not in the interest of you to run in the primaries against a man whose main achievement was to organize the Olympics in Albertville,” said one Barnier fan, referring to Barnier's work at the 1992 Winter Games in France.
chance to correct
But Barnier's team hopes that the primaries will be an opportunity to correct this, and the aide himself said, "He was always an actor, not a man of communications, which is why he is not as well known as others," adding: "But most people do not have a negative impression of him, and they They know he has done a lot of work for the country, and he has supporters.”
Former Interior Minister Brice Ortefeux said he welcomed Barnier's move, without specifying whether he would vote for him.
According to Barnier's team, expert groups including CEOs, farmers and business leaders are working on his campaign agenda.
The former negotiator plans to put forward proposals on five major policy areas in the coming weeks, and Barnier's proposal to halt immigration for three to five years, and to defer all applications for residence permits except those from asylum seekers and students, is the most shocking, yet, and in an interview with a newspaper Le Figaro, last week, Barnier, also suggested, organizing a referendum on immigration if he was elected president, which is a demand of the right in France, but the difficulties are waiting.
Opinion polls indicate that none of the conservative candidates will make it past the first round of the presidential election, and Macron has defeated Le Pen in the run-off, and a recent Ipsos poll estimated that 15% of the French would vote for Bertrand, 14% for Pecres, and only 11%. The Republicans are expected to decide whether to organize a primary contest at their party convention next month, and Bertrand's candidacy will also be discussed.
The other option is simply for senior members to choose a candidate without consulting party members.
According to an aide, Barnier, 70, decided to run, centered on the fact that he believed his experience with the government put him ahead of rivals.
The main obstacle that Barnier will have to overcome is his perceived lack of charisma and his lack of public appearances.
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