François Bayrou, big favorite for Matignon, speaks with Emmanuel Macron this Friday, December 13 before the appointment of the Prime Minister. Is he warned of his promotion or rejected in favor of another?
The appointment of the Prime Minister scheduled for this Friday, December 13, after a postponement of a few hours, is late. François Bayrou is still in the race for Matignon, but the length of the negotiations and the resumption of consultations by Emmanuel Macron during the night from Thursday to Friday raise questions. If the boss of MoDem has indeed been the favorite for several days, why has his nomination not yet been confirmed? The centrist could have the answer to this question this Friday, he should also be clear about his future since he speaks with the President of the Republic at 8:30 a.m. before the appointment of the Prime Minister. Note that this is the third face-to-face between the centrist and Emmanuel Macron since the resignation of Michel Barnier on December 5.
Will François Bayrou be informed of his imminent appointment to Matignon or will he, on the contrary, be challenged? The reasons justifying the interview were not specified by the Elysée. The members of the MoDem warn, however, that in the event of non-nomination and new disappointment – it would not be the first time that the centrist will be cited but ultimately dismissed for Matignon – “François Bayrou will cause carnage” as reported by Le Parisien . The same people believe that the discussions have progressed well, to the point of having received positive signals even from the PS. As a reminder, according to Emmanuel Macron’s plan, the future Prime Minister must be assured of the support of all deputies from the right, the central bloc and the left with the exception of LFI in the event of a motion of censure.
A double discourse on François Bayrou on the left
François Bayrou and Olivier Faure would have had an “aside deemed positive”, after Tuesday’s meeting at the Élysée Palace, according to information from Politico. This discussion between the two men would have convinced within the MoDem that there is indeed a way for François Bayrou to govern without exposing himself to a motion to eject him. Olivier Faure nevertheless insisted yesterday on BFMTV that the centrist was “not the right choice”. But this declaration does not worry the MoDem executives. “He couldn’t say anything else. He’s not going to say that François Bayrou suits him well, we’re not asking that much,” a centrist tenor slipped into Politico. The centrist who has contacts with the left and who sent his deputies to talk with the socialists, the ecologists and communists, hopes to be able to have his name accepted. François Bayrou noted that Olivier Faure did not speak of “censorship” in the event of the appointment of François Bayrou. made with Release ensuring that a non-censorship agreement is only valid for a left-wing Prime Minister…
The right ready to accept François Bayrou, despite the obstacle of Nicolas Sarkozy
The name of François Bayrou seems to have made its way among the elected representatives of the Les Républicains party who, according to its deputy general secretary Geoffroy Didier invited to Franceinfo, does not oppose the appointment of the centrist who “could be a solution”. Support which was not won in advance since part of the right continues to see in François Bayrou, one of the most vocal opponents of Nicolas Sarkozy and the man who deprived the former president of a re-election in 2012.
A little extra all the same, François Bayrou might not suffer from automatic opposition from the RN. The boss of MoDem has indeed always had a form of respect for Marine Le Pen, considering her in the same way as other political leaders, and recently opposed the idea that a sentence of ineligibility be required and then pronounced. against far-right politics. Support in the event of censorship on which the future Prime Minister should not count since the idea is to no longer depend on the RN, but which could still be useful. But after the obvious exclusion of the RN from the negotiations, the situation could change even in the event of the appointment of François Bayrou.
Bayrou in favor of a “disinterested and pluralist government”
François Bayrou has a precise idea of the strategy that seems to him to be the right one in this period of political crisis with a National Assembly lacking a sufficient majority to govern alone. The centrist has been pleading for months for the formation of a “disinterested, pluralist and coherent government” made up of “personalities of character”, without specifying the political sides which could or could not take part in it, as recalled Le Figaro. A vision which is similar to that proposed by Emmanuel Macron before the appointment of Michel Barnier this summer and the resumption of negotiations after censorship in recent days, but which also presents differences. Although he is a historic ally of the Head of State, François Bayrou has distanced himself from Macronist politics in recent years and never hesitates to express his opposition to presidential plans when he feels like it. An independence which makes the hypothesis of a change of political course possible, although limited.
If on the left we fear that François Bayrou will not allow us to mark the expected break, within the Macronists some fear that the centrist will claim too much independence and freedom in relation to Emmanuel Macron’s policy in the event of disagreements. The previous opposition of the head of the MoDem to the head of state has earned the former a certain reputation, some go so far as to consider him as “a complete pain in the ass” like someone close to the head of state At Parisian. “And Macron knows it,” adds the same person. A reputation which could earn him to stay once again in front of the doors of Matignon.
09:25 – François Bayrou received at the Elysée at 8:30 a.m.
Emmanuel Macron is conducting the final consultations this Friday, December 13 before the appointment of the Prime Minister which must take place in the morning. And during these consultations, the Head of State receives François Bayrou. The two men have been talking at the Elysée since 8:30 a.m., almost one hour at the time of writing these lines.
12/12/24 – 11:26 p.m. – “He has gone so far with Bayrou that it is very dangerous not to name him”
Big favorite for Matignon, received twice at the Élysée, François Bayrou was not named this evening. But in those around him, we still want to believe it: “The surprise would be if Bayrou was not named, but we will remain cautious”, estimates a close friend of the Parisian. A former minister is worried: Emmanuel Macron “has gone so far with Bayrou that it is very dangerous not to name him”. And a close friend of the head of state confirmed: “If Bayrou is not named, he will cause carnage.”
12/12/24 – 22:32 – For the socialists, François Bayrou is “not the guarantor of a change of course”
Near the Parisiana socialist, described as close to the party leadership, points out that “Bayrou has accompanied the President of the Republic for seven years and he is therefore not the guarantor of a change of course”. Recalling that the PS pleads for a left-wing Prime Minister and is open to civil society, he defends: “We are very faithful to the institutions of the Republic and to democratic rules. That should be the basis of everything, especially when we are in the guarantor.”