► Bayrou says he felt “pain” for Sarkozy after his conviction by the courts
François Bayrou said he had ” penalty “ after the conviction of former President Nicolas Sarkozy in the wiretapping affair to one year in prison under an electronic bracelet for corruption and influence peddling, an unprecedented sanction for a former head of state.
“I faced Nicolas Sarkozyhard in my life, and when I learned of this verdict, it made me sad” pour “him and for his” et “I know what it’s like to find yourself before the apparatus of justice and I can’t erase that feeling”declared on France 2 the Prime Minister, who maintains frosty relations with the former head of state. He himself was acquitted in February in the affair of the assistants of MEPs from his MoDem party in the European Parliament. The prosecution has appealed, and the date for the appeal trial has not yet been set.
► The Prime Minister “hopes” for the adoption of a budget “in mid-February”
François Bayrou said Thursday December 19 on France 2 that he hoped for the adoption of a budget “in mid-February”while work in this direction was interrupted by the motion of censure which overthrew the previous government.
“I hope we can have it in mid-February. I’m not sure I’ll make it.”declared the Prime Minister, who specified that he would start again from “the copy that was voted on” in Parliament before the censorship of Michel Barnier’s government.
► François Bayrou wants Bruno Retailleau to stay in government
Prime Minister François Bayrou affirmed on France2 that he wanted the resigning Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau to be a member of the government he intends to appoint before Christmas.
“I think that Mr. Retailleau has shown in recent weeks and months that he has found decisions and directions that respond to part of what public opinion is asking for”he clarified, while the retention of Bruno Retailleau in Beauvau irritates the PS, with whom François Bayrou is seeking to establish a non-censorship agreement.
► Bayrou “believes” that there is another solution than raising the age to 64
François Bayrou said he believed that there could be another solution for financing the pension system than postponing the age from 62 to 64, as in the contested reform which was adopted in 2023.
Asked if there was another solution other than raising the age to 64, the Prime Minister responded on France 2: “Yes, I think so”recalling that he had been “a points retirement activist”. “We can find a different organization, but we will also have to ask ourselves the question of financing”warned Mr. Bayrou, who proposed Thursday afternoon to political forces and social partners to reopen a discussion on pensions for nine months, but “without suspending” the 2023 reform, “because, when we suspend, obviously, we never resume”.
► “I will not use 49.3, unless there is an absolute blockage on the budget,” says Bayrou
François Bayrou, without a majority in the National Assembly, affirmed on France 2 that he would not use article 49.3 of the Constitution, unless “absolute blockage on the budget”.
“I will not use 49.3, unless there is an absolute blockage on the budget. (…) I want as much dialogue as possible. And on the other texts, I will not use 49.3, unless there is a disaster”declared the Prime Minister, addressing the parties “in opposition” but who “agree to dialogue” and not to overthrow his government.
► Bayrou hopes to appoint a government “over the weekend”
François Bayrou, guest of the France 2 channel after 8 p.m., wished Thursday, December 19 that “during the weekend” the new government “be presented”, “in any case, before Christmas”.
Appointed on December 13, the Prime Minister must appoint a government quickly to provide the country with a budget, interrupted by the censure of his predecessor on December 5, but the difficulty is to pass it through a fractured National Assembly.
► Bayrou does not intend to “dismiss” the RN and LFI from “national life”
François Bayrou affirmed this Thursday, December 19 that he did not hear “discard” the National Rally and France Insoumise of the “national life”during a meeting of political forces in Matignon, to which these parties were not invited, according to Matignon.
“This is no reason to exclude them from national life. I will find ways to involve them in the work we have to do”said the Prime Minister, according to comments reported by his services.
► The PS has “not found a reason not to censor” Bayrou
The socialist leaders did not “did not find any reason not to censor” Prime Minister François Bayrou during the meeting of political forces – excluding RN and LFI – in Matignon, said PS boss Olivier Faure on Thursday.
“We are not being heard at this stage and we ask to be heard. If we are not, we will have no other constitutional option than to censor again.”indicated the first secretary of the Socialist Party at the end of the meeting, confirming that his political party will not participate in the future government.
► Bayrou does not rule out using 49.3
François Bayrou retained the possibility of using article 49.3 of the Constitution which allows texts to be passed without a vote but exposes himself to a motion of censure, on future texts of law, during a meeting in Matignon with political forces, according to participants.
The left proposed to give it up in exchange for abandoning censorship. “We asked him not to use 49.3, which he (the Prime Minister, Editor’s note) refuses. He said he didn’t want to abuse it, but that he kept the possibility of using it.”reported communist deputy Stéphane Peu.
► Wauquiez requests a “six-month stability commitment”
The boss of LR deputies Laurent Wauquiez asked the representatives of the political forces gathered in Matignon “a six-month stability commitment” for the future government of François Bayrou, indicated his entourage.
“Whether we participate or not, whether we are the majority or the opposition, we must commit not to overthrow it”proposed the deputy for Haute-Loire, whose party demands to know the roadmap of the next executive before deciding on its participation.
► Bayrou ready to “resume without suspending” pension reform
François Bayrou proposed to party leaders and parliamentary groups present at a meeting in Matignon to “resume without suspending” the controversial pension reform adopted in 2023, said Matignon.
The Prime Minister proposed reopening a discussion during “nine months” with social partners and political forces “without suspending the reform” adopted by the use of 49.3 in March 2023. “And if we don’t succeed, we return to the 2023 reform” which notably shifted the starting age to 64 years, the same source said.
► Bayrou proposes to party leaders to return to government
François Bayrou invited party leaders to join the government he is forming. According to Matignon and several participants, this “public offer of participation” to the government was addressed to all the parties present around the table (that is to say all the major parties, excluding the RN and LFI).
The Prime Minister also assured party and parliamentary group leaders that he was willing to reopen a discussion on the pension reform passed in 2022, these same sources reported.
► Meeting of political forces in Matignon, without the RN and LFI
François Bayrou invited the political forces, but not LFI nor the RN. The presidents of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, were invited to Matignon. As well as “the presidents of parties and groups who had responsibility for the affairs of the country at one period or another of the Fifth Republic”, he wrote in a letter.
A formulation which once again excludes the National Rally and its ally, Éric Ciotti’s UDR, as well as La France insoumise. François Bayrou “despises the National Rally and its millions of voters”castigated the vice-president of the party, Sébastien Chenu.
The format of this meeting is reminiscent of that held nine days ago around Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée, where scenarios of non-censorship of oppositions were discussed, provided the government does not resort to 49.3 or the dissolution by the president.
► Press to the right
After his meeting with François Bayrou, the resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, estimated Wednesday on BFMTV that in the eyes of the Republicans (LR), the conditions were not “not united” for his desired continuation in government.
“It would be a shame if the government moved to the left, while France is on the right,” estimated Bruno Retailleau.
► Caution on the left
The Socialist Party (PS) has also announced that it will only go to Matignon “under certain conditions”, without further details at this stage. Johanna Rolland, first deputy secretary of the PS, claimed to have “interlocutors (…) who sit around the table and tell us the path to compromise, to move towards non-censorshipwhich can be posed ».
Environmentalists will go to the meeting, but call on the presidential camp not to continue “identical” a policy “disavowed by voters”at the risk of further censorship, they warn in a press release.
For his part, the communist Fabien Roussel expects a change in the budgetary discourse: “If François Bayrou comes to offer us the same budget that Mr Barnier had proposed, that is to say we just change the people but we have the same, the same budgets, the same difficulties for the French, we will censor this budget there. »
► Bayrou talks about Mayotte and New Caledonia
In his letter to the parties, François Bayrou cites the situation in Mayotte, which suffered “probably the most serious natural disaster in the history of France for several centuries”.
He also mentions New Caledonia, believing that “these two situations added together” place political leaders “faced with unprecedented responsibilities”.
Enough to bring about a form of union? Without a majority in the Assembly, the centrist, who has been advocating for decades a government bringing together various sensitivities, is currently facing the strong demands of the LR on the right, and growing attempts at censorship on the left.
► Bayrou, less popular than his predecessors
The new Prime Minister, François Bayrou, gives satisfaction to 36% of French people, a rate significantly lower than that experienced by his three predecessors when they took office at Matignon, according to an Ifop poll for Sud Radio published on Thursday.
Michel Barnier and Gabriel Attal respectively received 52% and 53% satisfaction in the days following their appointment as head of government. Upon her arrival, in May 2022, Élisabeth Borne met with 47% favorable opinions.
