Brussels – As the French overseas territory of Mayotte tries to recover from the devastating cyclone Chido, work continues in Paris for the new premier François Bayrou to assemble his government team. The premier aims to have an executive in place by Christmas and present a budget bill to the National Assembly in February. Still, he does not seem to have enough support among the political forces.
Yesterday (Dec. 19), the premier ministre made a round of consultations at Palais Matignon, the seat of the transalpine executive, to sound out the willingness of the parties—all except les extrèmes that is, the ultra-right of the Rassemblement national (RN) and the radical left of La France insoumise (LFI) —not to sink his next government, which has yet to take shape. However, François Bayrou, the leader of the centrist Mouvement démocrat (MoDem) party, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron to give France stable political leadership after the historic no-confidence vote by the Assemblée Nationale to Michel Barnier earlier this month, does not seem to have been very successful so far.
According to French media reports, all the Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) forces wanted out, claiming that there were no conditions to take part in an executive who would continue to pursue Macronist prescriptions. Excluding the insoumis of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who were not even summoned to Matignon, socialistes, ecologists, and communists also said they were sceptical.
Socialist Party (PS) Secretary Olivier Faure said he has “found no reason not to censure” Bayrou, appointed by the head of state just a week ago. “We are dismayed by the scantiness of what has been proposed,” he admitted to the press coming out of the consultations, reiterating that “we will not participate in this government.” Of the same view, the leader of the Greens (EELV), Marine Tondelier: “We had the impression that we were being played,” she complained.
Communist MP Stéphane Peu pointed out that when talking with Bayrou about the budget to be approved for 2025, “we asked him not to resort to 49.3, and he refused.” The reference is to the provision in the national Constitution that allows the head of government to force the passage of a budget law by circumventing parliamentary debate. That is, precisely the same move that led to the collapse of the Barnier government. Bayrou would not categorically rule it out, keeping open the option of resorting to it if groups in the Assembly were to filibuster.
Bayrou is making a small opening on the hotly contested pension reform. The premier suggests the “resuming without suspending” formula, which would include resuming debate on the rule—which has never been well received by either the left or the right—without temporarily halting its implementation. According to government sources, the parties and social partners have reportedly been offered to propose a “new reform” within the next nine months in exchange for supporting Bayrou’s executive.
Retirement reform: resume without suspending. pic.twitter.com/u2J6GT6F6q
– François Bayrou (@bayrou) December 19, 2024
In this way, the premier minister aims to secure parliamentary confidence in his government, dodging the censure motions already threatened by some political forces. He would like his team to be ready by the weekend to take office before Christmas and indicated a name he would like to have with him: the current Interior Minister, the conservative Bruno Retailleau. Retailleau is known for his hard line on issues related to immigration and security and, for that very reason, is especially disliked by progressives, for whom his reappointment is particularly irritating.
The situation beyond the Alps remains tense. Meanwhile, on Wednesday (Dec. 18), the Senate approved a special bill to avoid the shutdown, i.e., the interruption of state functions, after the Assemblée had already given the measure the green light. It is a patch put on the Republic’s coffers while waiting for Parliament to approve the budget for 2025, which Bayrou would like to present by the first half of February.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
