Emmanuel Macron presses François Bayrou to form his future government. The Prime Minister could reveal the first names this Tuesday evening, at the end of his consultations in Matignon.
The essentials
- Newly appointed Prime Minister, François Bayrou “hopes” to form his government “this week”, he indicated at the end of the Pau Municipal Council which he chaired, Monday December 16. “But the President of the Republic must also be there,” he said. Obviously, the first tensions between Matignon and the Elysée were not long in coming.
- By implying that Emmanuel Macron’s busy schedule could be an obstacle to the constitution of the future government, François Bayrou incurred the wrath of the president. In this case, the Head of State is “awaiting the proposals” from the Prime Minister from this Tuesday evening, “following his consultations”, at the end of the afternoon, reveals a close friend of the president to Politico.
- This Tuesday, the tenant of Matignon continues its consultations by receiving new political leaders. Cyrielle Chatelain, president of the Ecologist and Social group in the National Assembly, Guillaume Gontard, president of the Ecologist – Solidarity and Territories group in the Senate and Marine Tondelier, National Secretary The Ecologists-EELV will speak with the Prime Minister to start the day.
- One thing is certain, the composition of the future government does not seem to be unanimous. At Les Républicains, it’s all grimace soup. François Bayrou could give a third of the positions to personalities from the right, a third to Macronists, a third to the left, according to LR sources at Politico. An LR advisor even judged François Bayrou’s intentions “worrying”, after his interview with Laurent Wauquiez yesterday in Matignon.
- So, what will the cast be? For the left wing, Pierre Moscovici and the former socialist mayor of Dijon, François Rebsamen, are cited. On the right, the name of Xavier Bertrand is also mentioned. In the ranks of the macronie, Catherine Vautrin, Rachida Dati, Maud Bregeon, Sébastien Lecornu and Laurent Saint-Martin could see their lease extended. Finally, the former members of the government, Élisabeth Borne and Gérald Darmanin are also expected.
Live
11:32 – Ecologists, MoDem, Liot.. François Bayrou continues his consultations
This Tuesday, December 17, François Bayrou continues his consultations in Matignon for the composition of his future government team. Cyrielle Chatelain, president of the Ecologist and Social group in the National Assembly, Guillaume Gontard, president of the Ecologist – Solidarity and Territories group in the Senate and Marine Tondelier, National Secretary The Ecologists-EELV open the ball at 9:30 a.m. The leaders of MoDem, Horizons, the independents of Liot, the communists, and the ex-LR Éric Ciotti now allied with the RN will also have an interview with the Prime Minister.
11:27 – Tension shows between Macron and Bayrou
“My deadline is this week” to appoint the future government, François Bayrou clearly indicated from Pau, this Monday, December 16, after the Municipal Council which he chaired. “But the President of the Republic must also be there,” he added. A remark which did not please the Head of State at all, who was quick to respond. Below -hearing that Emmanuel Macron’s agenda could be an obstacle to the smooth running of the process, and could delay the announcement of the future executive, François Bayrou may have started the first bickering with the Élysée. That’s why, the president. “wait for them proposals” from the Prime Minister this Tuesday evening, “following his consultations”, indicated a close friend of the president to Politico.
To go further
The appointment of a new Prime Minister will not change anything, even if a new stage is launched. The political crisis that France has been going through since this summer is not ready to end. The resignation of Michel Barnier, imposed by the censorship of the government voted by the deputies on December 4, came to remind those who had forgotten that the executive has always been very fragile. Emmanuel Macron’s choice to appoint Michel Barnier to Matignon, after a failed dissolution, gave the keys to the National Rally. Without the implicit support or laissez-faire of the RN, the next government will not last much longer. The government is facing political and arithmetic reality: its line is very much in the minority in the National Assembly, the deputies of the opposition parties are more numerous than those of the “common base” parties.
Emmanuel Macron had also prepared for the fall of Michel Barnier’s government at the end of November, based on numerous indiscretions. He had started testing the names of potential replacements even before the censorship. The choice of François Bayrou ultimately gives the signal that he remains on the same line as before: for him, it is the capacity to ensure stability which is the key, by working with the parties of the “republican arc”, without suffer the censorship of others. In doing so, Emmanuel Macron reconnects with this tacit deal with Marine Le Pen which led to the fall of the Barnier government.
A “disinterested and pluralist” Bayrou 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 Le Figaro recalls. A vision that matches that proposed by Emmanuel Macron.
François Bayrou’s government should unsurprisingly include members of the MoDem and Macronists, but it could also open up to the right and the left on the condition that these forces agree to join the executive. Something difficult to imagine for the left: the PS and the Ecologists refused to participate in a government led by a Prime Minister foreign to the left. On the other hand, the appointment of right-wing ministers, or even the maintenance of certain resigned LR ministers such as Sébastien Lecornu or Bruno Retailleau, are mentioned. The LR party did not object to joining a Bayrou government, but refused to participate in an executive in which socialists would be appointed. During his handover speech with Michel Barnier last Friday on the steps of Matignon, the new Prime Minister did not give the slightest clue about the composition of his government. We will still have to wait. Maybe before Christmas? A schedule “difficult to keep”, according to a relative of the new tenant of Matignon, as indicated in the columns of Politico, Monday December 16, 2024.