these precedents which work against the Prime Minister

POLICY – ” I wanted my first trip to be here. This is to mark both the solidarity of the whole country with you and behind you. » This sentence from Gabriel Attal, pronounced from Pas-de-Calais affected by floods, does not work in favor of his (not so) distant successor. Because while Mayotte was ravaged by Cyclone Chido, with at least twenty deaths, Prime Minister François Bayrou is being criticized for his management of the crisis.

If the arrival of Gabriel Attal on the day of his appointment is a coincidence of the calendar (his predecessor Élisabeth Borne was expected there), the Prime Minister’s trips are classic – even expected – in the event of a natural disaster.

On October 15, 2018, while a first morning report showed 6 deaths in Aude after floods, the head of government at the time Édouard Philippe announced that he would go to the site in the hours that followed. February 2021, it is Jean Castex who “manifests the solidarity of the State” in Lot-et-Garonne. November 2023, Élisabeth Borne does the same in Pas-de-Calais. Then Gabriel Attal and up to Michel Barnier, despite his short-lived visit, who went to the Rhône on October 25, still after floods.

“Indifference and contempt”

In this context, François Bayrou’s decision to participate in the flesh in the Pau municipal council on Monday evening and to hold the crisis meeting on Mayotte by videoconference is controversial. “This choice can evoke indifference and contempt for a population in danger. How can I justify this feeling of abandonment to her? » asks the president of the LIOT group Stéphane Lenormand during an exceptional session of questions to the Prime Minister this December 17. “Contempt is felt all the more harshly when suffering is there,” scathes the rebellious Mathilde Panot. “When do you plan to go to Mayotte? »also questions ecologist Steevy Gustave.

The pill is all the harder to swallow as criticism of double standards from the State towards this archipelago is not new. Example in 2023, when due to an unprecedented drought, the Mahorais find themselves without water two days out of three, or even more for the inhabitants of the heights. “This situation has become commonplace, whereas in mainland France, never, (…) with the know-how, the engineering available, it would not be possible. Otherwise, what would those who live in the Alps do? »lamented Racha Mousdikoudine, president of the collective “Mayotte a soif” to the Bondy Blog. A speech relayed by many elected officials, including the communist Fabien Roussel who denounced at the time “the questioning of republican equality. »

Government and logistical constraints

Cooked by the elected representatives of the Assembly, François Bayrou assures that the government was represented by the resigning ministers of the Interior and Overseas Territories, discusses his participation “from the first to the last minute” at the crisis meeting and recalls that he is in full composition of his government which he intends to present ” as soon as possible “. There is also a significant logistical constraint: organizing travel to an archipelago 8,000 kilometers from Paris is much more complex and restrictive to organize than a round trip from the capital to a department of the ‘Hexagon, however far away it may be.

In front of the deputies, François Bayrou also attempts a final argument: “It is not customary for the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to leave the national territory at the same time,” he argues. A formulation that is at least clumsy and which will not appease the trial over an alleged lack of consideration towards the Mahorais.

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