“Pau is in France”: François Bayrou responds to the controversy over his criticized presence on the municipal council in the midst of a crisis in Mayotte

“Pau is in France.” François Bayrou defended Tuesday before the deputies his presence the day before at the municipal council of Pau, which drew criticism from all political sides, believing that “we do not have the right to separate the province and the circle of powers in Paris.”

“I chaired the municipal council of my city from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. I consider that, in doing so, I was also in my place as a citizen and I intend to defend this idea that citizenship is not divided between being in Paris and fulfilling one’s responsibilities as a citizen on the ground”added the Prime Minister in response to a question from the leader of LFI deputies, Mathilde Panot.

As a reminder, the mayor of Pau chose to go to Béarn, by jet, to attend a municipal council and defend the accumulation of mandates. A surprising and criticized choice, in the midst of the crisis in Mayotte.

Yaël Brau-Pivet’s tackle

“Faced with such a disaster, it is important to be alongside the populations” and “in this type of circumstance, we must be 100% mobilized in crisis management“, estimated the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, adding that she would have “preferred that the Prime Minister take the plane to Mayotte”.

The controversy is also growing on the left, where the number one of the socialist party Olivier Faure judged on France 2 that “the Prime Minister is losing his way” with this “exit on the return of the accumulation of mandates“and that”his place was not in Pau” Monday evening.

“It is totally indecent to talk about multiple mandates when at the moment we are burying children and residents in Mayotte”for his part, the boss of the Communist Party Fabien Roussel was indignant on BFMTV and RMC.

“By holding on to this position of mayor” of Pau“Mr. Bayrou makes a serious mistake” lined with a “significant political misconduct” et “symbolically dramatic”, similarly estimated the coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard on Sud Radio.