In France, protesters demonstrate against Barnier's appointment as prime minister.

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday, following a call from the leader of a far-right party who criticized the president's appointment of conservative new Prime Minister Michel Barnier as a “power grab.”

The protests were aimed directly at President Emmanuel Macron's decision to bypass a prime minister from the far-left bloc after July's deeply divisive and divided parliamentary elections, with authorities recording no strong turnout across the country.

The left, particularly the La France Inconcilié party, sees Barnier's conservative background as a rejection of the will of the voters, which would further exacerbate the already charged political atmosphere in the EU's second-largest economy. Saturday's protesters condemned Barnier's appointment as a denial of democracy, echoing the heated rhetoric of party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon in recent days.

In Paris, protesters gathered at the Place de la Bastille and tensions rose as police prepared for possible clashes. Some carried signs reading “Where is my voice?”

At the head of the Paris procession, Mélenchon gave an impassioned speech, declaring: “The French people are rebelling. They have entered the revolution.”

“There will be no pause, no ceasefire. I call on you to a long-term struggle,” he added.

In the southwestern town of Montauban, a speaker told the crowd that “people were ignored.” Other protests took place in about 150 locations across the country.

While Barnier met with health workers at Paris' Necker hospital on his first official visit as prime minister, opponents said the unrest in the streets would determine the future of his government.

Barnier, who is currently putting together his cabinet, said he would listen to citizens' concerns, particularly those about France's public services.

Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), warned that Barnier was also under “observation” of his party. Bardella called on the prime minister at the fair in Chalons-en-Champagne to include his party's priorities in his agenda, particularly on national security and immigration.

At 73, Barnier is the oldest of the 26 prime ministers who have served in the modern French Fifth Republic. He replaces the youngest, Gabriel Attal, who was 34 when he was appointed just eight months ago.

Attal was forced to resign after Macron's centrist government performed poorly in the snap parliamentary elections in July. Macron had called the elections in the hope of securing a clear mandate for himself, but instead the result was a parliament without a clear majority, leaving the president without a parliamentary majority and his government in chaos.

Attal was also France's first openly gay prime minister. The French media and some of Macron's opponents, who immediately criticized Barnier's appointment, quickly discovered that the new prime minister was one of the 155 MPs who voted against a law decriminalizing homosexuality during his term in parliament in 1981.

Although Barnier has five decades of political experience, his appointment offers no guarantee of a solution to the crisis. His challenge is immense: he must form a government that can navigate the fragmented National Assembly, whose political spectrum is deeply divided between the far left, the far right and Macron's weakened centrist bloc. The result of the snap election has brought no clarity, but only served to destabilize both the country and Macron's hold on power.

The president's decision to turn to Barnier, a veteran politician with close ties to the European Union, is seen as an attempt to bring stability to French politics. And Barnier, who rose to prominence as the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, has faced daunting tasks before.

Critics say Macron was elected on a promise to break with the old political order, but now has to contend with the instability he once sought to overcome.