François Bayrou speaks in a letter on the future government

POLITICS – The Prime Minister does not want to rush. Before proposing to Emmanuel Macron a government composition, François Bayrou sent a letter this Wednesday, December 18 to the presidents of political parties and presidents of groups “who had responsibility for the affairs of the country at one period or another during the Fifth Republic” – effectively excluding the RN and LFI -, indicating that they wanted to meet them beforehand in Matignon, this Thursday at 2 p.m. The presidents of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, are also invited.

“I want to meet you to enlighten you and hear from you on the directions we should follow”writes the Prime Minister, after several days of bilateral consultations with political forces.

At the end of the afternoon, Matignon denied to AFP that François Bayrou had proposed a government list to Emmanuel Macron, whom he has seen three times in recent days. A source close to the Prime Minister previously reported to AFP that the Prime Minister had returned his copy to the President of the Republic.

“The period we have entered” since the censorship of Michel Barnier’s government by deputies on December 5, “has created an unprecedented and serious situation”estimates François Bayrou in his letter.

Cyclone in Mayotte and riots in New Caledonia

“We are in fact on the eve of Christmas without a budget, which has never happened in half a century; the government has not yet been formed since the previous one resigned; the progress that was made possible by the adoption of the 2025 budget is now suspended and the concern is great and justified”he explains.

Furthermore, in this situation “institutional risky” in which the country finds itself since the dissolution of the National Assembly in June and the censorship of the government, added “an unprecedented tragedy in Mayotte”, “probably the most serious natural disaster in the history of France for several centuries”after New Caledonia which was itself hit “by riots whose toll is heavy”continues the Prime Minister. “These two unprecedented situations added together present us with unprecedented responsibilities”he emphasizes.

The format of this meeting resembles the round table organized by Emmanuel Macron on December 10 with all political forces, except the RN and LFI. The socialists, ecologists and communists then proposed that the government renounce article 49.3 to pass texts without a vote, in exchange for non-censorship.

During this unprecedented meeting since the start of the political crisis triggered by the dissolution, Emmanuel Macron emphasized “his desire not to dissolve” the Assembly again by the end of his mandate in 2027, according to his entourage. The president also noted “a unanimity of political forces to no longer depend on the National Rally”while only the center and the right had said the same for LFI.

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