The suspense ended on Monday December 23: ten days after his appointment to Matignon, François Bayrou ended up revealing the composition of his government. To the detriment of civil society, this gives pride of place to experienced elected officials. Two former Prime Ministers, Elisabeth Borne and Manuel Valls, are even returning, respectively to National Education and Overseas. Many leavers remain, such as Bruno Retailleau and Rachida Dati. On But the opposition is far from being convinced, on the contrary: Jordan Bardella quickly attacked “the coalition of failure”, while the left denounced a “provocation” with this cast of “disowned people”.
Information to remember:
⇒ The transfers of power are planned for this Tuesday
⇒ François Bayrou says he is confident in his ability to avoid censorship
⇒ The opposition strongly criticizes the new government
09:00
Non-censorship pact: “none of the conditions were respected”, accuses Olivier Faure
“None of the conditions were respected by François Bayrou” to establish a non-censorship pact between the Prime Minister and the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure said on Tuesday, in reaction to the composition of the government revealed on Monday. On RMC-BFMTV, the First Secretary of the PS listed three of these conditions: “no dependence on the extreme right, no more forceful passage with 49.3 and finally a change of course”. “I haven’t heard anything of the sort, I haven’t seen anything and so I say to myself ‘but actually, what was the point of these hours spent together?'”, he added.
08:45
The new ministers take office this Tuesday
The ministers of François Bayrou’s government must take office this Tuesday, on the eve of Christmas, during transfers of power which must specify the Prime Minister’s roadmap. The two former Prime Ministers Elisabeth Borne, appointed to Education, and Manuel Valls, to Overseas Territories, will be particularly scrutinized, as will another returnee, Gérald Darmanin, who will occupy the Justice portfolio.
On the Bercy side, the new Minister of the Economy Eric Lombard took office on Monday evening, replacing Antoine Armand. The former director of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, presented by François Bayrou as a man of the left, immediately called for “treating our endemic evil, the deficit”. “The more we are in debt, the more the debt costs, the more it suffocates the country. We must reduce the deficit without killing growth. It is this balance that we must seek and this is the meaning of the draft budget for 2025 that we let’s continue,” he said.
08:40
Will François Bayrou escape censorship?
“I am convinced that the action that I define before you and the government team will ensure that we will not be censored,” the Prime Minister declared Monday evening on the BFMTV channel, a few hours after the presentation of his government. François Bayrou believes that the presence of heavyweights in his team must help to protect him, as he has not been able to open his government further to the left. La France insoumise (LFI) has already announced its intention to table a motion of censure. But the National Rally, the largest group in the Assembly, has made it known that it will not censor the new government a priori.
During this same interview, François Bayrou made it known that he would not ask for confidence in the Assembly after his general policy speech on January 14. “In the wake of this general policy declaration, there will be a sort of vote of confidence because there will probably be a motion of censure,” argued the Prime Minister, who “respects the fact that political forces “don’t want to be assimilated against their will into government policy.”
08:30
Barely appointed, the new government strongly criticized
From Monday evening, the oppositions were very harsh with the new government, accusing the Prime Minister in particular of recycling personalities who had previously failed. An “extreme right” government in the form of “provocation”, judged the boss of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure. A team “filled with people disowned at the polls and who contributed to sinking our country”, added the head of LFI deputies Mathilde Panot.
The National Rally, for its part, handles irony: “fortunately ridicule does not kill” because “François Bayrou has brought together the coalition of failure”, judged the president of the far-right party, Jordan Bardella. On the side of the Republicans (LR), who remain in government, Laurent Wauquiez spoke of “very demanding” support for François Bayrou which could be “withdrawn” depending on the course set.