Jean-Noël Barrot Calls for More Citizen Participation for Future President

Versailles – 28.06.2026: Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs as well as Vice President of the Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem), emphasized on Sunday at the “Fête de la démocratie” in Versailles that the future President of the Republic “must commit to returning power to the French people” in order to be credible. Before about 700 attendees, Barrot warned of the danger that the 2027 presidential election could be “hijacked” by parties like the Rassemblement National (RN) and La France Insoumise (LFI), which he described as “two different poisons” that are “deadly for democracy and France.” He criticized both parties for their search for “scapegoats”: for the RN, these are “the foreigner, the Muslim, the public broadcaster,” and for LFI “the rich, the Jew, the journalist.” Barrot spoke of a “democratic sleepiness” after “decades of the elites’ blindness to the major upheavals in the world” and their “denial of the growing anger of the middle classes and workers.” He stressed that the future president “must submit these issues to the French people by referendum within the first 100 days of his term.” Among the priorities he proposed were the decentralization of the state organization, a “social contract between generations” with the introduction of a points-based pension system, as well as a “citizen loyalty pact” that includes mandatory civil or military service and the complete blocking of social networks that “do not respect our rules.” Barrot emphasized that the future president “must commit to returning power to the French people” in order to be credible. He criticized the current political landscape and warned of the danger that the 2027 presidential election could be “hijacked” by parties like the Rassemblement National (RN) and La France Insoumise (LFI), which he called “two different poisons” that are “deadly for democracy and France.” He criticized both parties for their search for “scapegoats”: for the RN, these are “the foreigner, the Muslim, the public broadcaster,” and for LFI “the rich, the Jew, the journalist.” Barrot spoke of a “democratic sleepiness” after “decades of the elites’ blindness to the major upheavals in the world” and their “denial of the growing anger of the middle classes and workers.” He stressed that the future president “must submit these issues to the French people by referendum within the first 100 days of his term.” Among the priorities he proposed were the decentralization of the state organization, a “social contract between generations” with the introduction of a points-based pension system, as well as a “citizen loyalty pact” that includes mandatory civil or military service and the complete blocking of social networks that “do not respect our rules.”