French President Macron appoints 73-year-old Michel Barnier as prime minister, triggering concerns from all sectors

Recently, French President Macron appointed 73-year-old Michel Barnier as prime minister, making France welcome the "oldest prime minister". Barnier has rich political experience. He was born into an ordinary family of leather craftsmen. After graduating from the European Institute of Business Administration, he entered politics and became a French parliamentarian in 1978.

Barnier has held several important positions in his political career. He has served as a cabinet minister four times, been a European commissioner twice, and has served as the chief negotiator for the EU's Brexit affairs since 2016. He is known for his shrewd and elegant image. He loves to wear practical short windbreakers and carry briefing files under his arm. He presents himself as a pro-European in the EU. In the Brexit negotiations, he showed a firm and polite attitude and was praised for having "the art, patience and tenacity to reach consensus".

Reactions to Barnier's appointment are mixed. Some French parliamentarians call him "the French Joe Biden". His former assistant Gourcuff described him as "a UFO in the French political sky". "It is difficult to define, which makes him compatible with almost everything." Some people also think he is "the most suitable person for cross-party work". However, the left-wing coalition strongly opposes Macron's choice of prime minister, believing that the election results have been "stolen". The new prime minister comes from the party that ranked only fourth in the National Assembly elections. This may push France into a constitutional crisis. The far-right National Rally is open to cooperation with the new prime minister, but its members will not join the government led by him.

Macron appointed Barnier to use his rich political experience to "build a bridge in a divided parliament" and address France's worrying economic situation. But Barnier faces many challenges, such as forming a government that can gain broad support, dealing with the rising left-wing forces, straightening out public finances and passing the confidence vote in the National Assembly. Next, his policy performance will be closely watched by all sectors. Whether he can lead France to move forward in a complex political and economic environment has become the focus of people's attention.