The President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron appointed François Bayrou as head of the French government on Friday December 13, according to a press release from the Élysée Palace. He succeeds Michel Barnier, who was forced to resign on December 5, after three months in his post, following a historic vote of censure in the Assembly.
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François Bayrou was one of Emmanuel Macron’s first strong allies, when the one who was François Hollande’s Minister of Economy launched the race for the presidency, in 2017. This ascension comes after decades of political life for the president of Modem: until disappearing in favor of Emmanuel Macron in 2017, François Bayrou had been a candidate in all presidential elections since 2002.
Emmanuel Macron had promised, Tuesday December 10 in the afternoon, a head of government “ within 48 hours “. An oath made to the leaders of political parties, gathered at the Élysée in search of compromisein the absence of the extreme right and the radical left.
The French president ultimately did not meet the promised deadline. As soon as the presidential plane landed near Paris, it returned a shortened visit to Polandthe Élysée announced that the nomination would not take place on Thursday evening, but the following morning. “ He concludes his consultations “, those around him told AFP, without further explanation. This decision is a sign of the difficulty in finding a personality capable of remaining longer than the ephemeral Michel Barnier, and of having a budget adopted, in a fractured political landscape.
To everyone’s surprise, the head of state had dissolved the National Assembly in June, after his camp’s defeat in the European elections against the far right. The early legislative elections resulted in an Assembly fragmented into three blocs (alliance of left, Macronists and right, extreme right), without an absolute majority.
Coming from the right, the former Prime Minister and former European Commissioner Michel Barnier, in office for only three months, was forced to resign on December 5after a historic vote of censure in the National Assembly.
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