Barely appointed, the Prime Minister has a series of hiccups, preferring to go to his town hall in Pau rather than to Mayotte, before relaunching the debate on the non-cumulation of mandates. A behavior revealing the dual political identity of the centrist, a man of the earth who dreams of national power.
A trip and a proposal. But only one subject, central in the political history of a country which for more than two hundred years has oscillated between Jacobinism and Girondism, Paris and the provinces, centralization and decentralization. On the one hand, this municipal council in Pau where François Bayrou went, while Mayotte is in pieces and an interministerial meeting was being held in Paris. On the other hand, this proposal from the same François Bayrou to return to the non-cumulation of mandates, while other priorities are obviously essential in mainland France. An undeniable blunder but accepted on one side. A questionable conviction and just as assumed on the other. A good summary upon arrival of who François Bayrou is.
These two significant “facts” of the first steps of the Béarnais in Matignon say a lot about this identity very anchored in him not only as a local elected official, but as a man of the land, certainly in love with literature and history, but never too happy only when he drives his tractor. This is his Mitterrandian side, minus the presidential destiny. A backbone which explains a lot of his – reciprocal – detestation of Nicolas Sarkozy, perhaps even his friction with Emmanuel Macron, two urban die-hards in the eyes of the “peasant” Bayrou. An identity not devoid of contradictions, the Palois having dreamed all his life – with three presidential campaigns under his belt – of conquering Paris.
Jonathan Bouchet-Petersen’s post
By going to Pau and by evoking the non-cumulative mandates, François Bayrou is in fact seeking to reconcile his two political identities, national and personal. And it is true that this cohabitation is at the heart of many French problems, in a more conflictual way since the yellow vest movement. Populism, moreover, feeds on it. The problem is that François Bayrou does not provide the right answer. Let’s move on from his trip to Pau, a hiccup that history will not remember. However, he is wrong about the accumulation of mandates. Who can believe, at a time of increased decentralization which sees regions, departments, large cities and metropolises exercising more and more skills, that it is possible, full time and with the necessary commitment, to combine two high functions, in Paris and in its stronghold? And above all, why would the only way for a national elected official to maintain a sense of reality, a certain proximity to citizens, necessarily be through the exercise of a local mandate? Driving a tractor from time to time remains an option.
