AFP Videos – France
Postponed, the government's announcement until Monday evening at the earliest
The presentation of the fourth government in 2024 will not take place before Monday evening, at the earliest, further extending the time for negotiations and exchanges between Prime Minister François Bayrou and President Emmanuel Macron, while France reflects on the eve of the holidays Christmas for Mayotte, ravaged by a cyclone. No announcement is expected before 6:00 p.m. Monday, said the Élysée, without specifying whether the composition of the government would be known at that time. Decreed a day of national mourning by President Emmanuel Macron for the Mayotte archipelago devastated by Cyclone Chido, Monday is a delicate day to announce a government but the latter remains promised “before Christmas” on Wednesday. A minute of silence was observed throughout the country at 11:00 a.m. in tribute to the victims of the disaster, whose provisional toll stands at 35 dead and 2,500 injured, so that “the Mahorais feel surrounded by an entire country”, he said. declared François Bayrou in the courtyard of Matignon. Very moved, the deputy (LIOT) of Mayotte, Estelle Youssouffa had said a few hours earlier that she was “indignant” that “the little Parisian turmoil continues” on this day of mourning, while the population of Mayotte “has no water, has not seen help”. “It’s so contemptuous, so serious, so mediocre, that we no longer have the words,” she declared on France Inter. From appointments of Prime Ministers to reshuffles, the political class has become accustomed to having to wait as the executive's schedules are adjusted.”This duration of this casting in relation to the country's emergencies, the crises we are going through, it's unbearable”, criticized RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy on BFMTV-RMC, denouncing “always the same sketch”. – Heavyweights – The centrist leader, 73, fourth Prime Minister in 2024, hopes to form a government of heavyweights, able to avoid censorship, with personalities from the right, the center and the left. His entourage had announced on Sunday that he was “making the final adjustments to his government”. Several telephone exchanges with Emmanuel Macron took place on Sunday, as well as an interview in the evening at the Élysée. “This is progressing. (…) The structuring of the major ministerial centers is fixed”, assured during the weekend the president of the MoDem deputies Marc Fesneau, close to François Bayrou, confirming that the complete list of the government should be presented “at once” and “before Christmas”. But the composition of a government responds to a subtle dosage which must in particular respect the balances policies, parity between men and women, and susceptibilities. Above all, ministers will have to urgently prepare a budget for 2025, under pressure from oppositions and financial markets. The names of former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne or former Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin are mentioned to join François Bayrou's team, just like that of Xavier Bertrand, president of Hauts-de-France and figure of the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party. The latter, cited for the Justice, is an irritant for the RN, which he has fought for a long time. Especially since Marine Le Pen is awaiting her judgment, with possible ineligibility, in the trial of the assistants of the European Parliament. “It's a very bad sign that is being made,” squeaked Jean-Philippe Tanguy (RN), nevertheless repeating that the entry of Xavier Bertrand into the government would not lead to immediate censorship of the far-right party. As for Gérald Darmanin, ex-LR rallied to the macronie, he publicly applied for the Quai d'Orsay where the current Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot (MoDem) would like to stay. – Written commitment – On the left , former socialist minister François Rebsamen, 73, announced that he was “ready” to join the government, praising his long-standing “relationship of trust” with François Bayrou. But almost nothing filters through on other personalities from the left who could be tempted to join François Bayrou. The Socialist Party formally refused to participate in the government and its leader Olivier Faure said he was “dismayed by the poverty of what (was) proposed”, not ruling out censoring the brand new Prime Minister, an ally of the first time of Emmanuel Macron. Among the outgoing, Catherine Vautrin (Territories), Rachida Dati (Culture) and Sébastien Lecornu (Armies) should remain, probably in the same portfolios. On the LR side, On Monday, they obtained a written commitment from the Prime Minister, notably on budgetary “savings” and the encouragement of “work by all means”, to which they had conditioned their participation in the government. The boss of the LR deputies gave up joining the team, failing to obtain the Finance portfolio. On the other hand, the outgoing Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau is on track to stay. The centrist's government base would ultimately be quite close to that of LR Michel Barnier, overthrown on December 4 by a motion of censure from the National Assembly, after three months in post.bur-lum/hr/oaa
