What timing for the composition of the government?

THE OFFS OF LEGENDRE. Emmanuel Macron’s busy schedule allows, at best, a first announcement at the very end of the week.

While a false government composition marked “very confidential” was circulating yesterday on the Whatsapp loops of journalists and politicians, probably written by ministerial cabinet advisors who are a little bored at the moment, François Bayrou and Emmanuel Macron gave Tuesday the feeling of moving forward in the composition of the future (real) government, with two very close meetings at the Élysée, at midday and in the evening.

Officially, the announcement is still expected before the end of the week. In reality, few believe it in government. For several reasons.

First, because “Bayrou is not at all in the business of arbitrating names,” slips a government source.

Marc Fesneau, who chairs the Les Démocrates group in the Assembly, instead spoke of discussions on a simple “start-up architecture of the government”.

The government could in reality be announced in two stages, with a first salvo of around twenty full-time ministers appointed before the holidays, supplemented in January by a second salvo of delegate ministers and secretaries of state.

Macron in Brussels then in Mayotte

The president’s schedule is also rather busy this weekend. He is expected in Brussels this Wednesday at the end of the day for an EU-Balkans summit and will immediately fly to Mayotte.

After Mayotte, the President will continue with a planned stop in Djibouti, then another in Ethiopia, before returning to Paris on Sunday morning, in theory.

François Bayrou announced Tuesday evening on France 2 that he in turn will go to Mayotte soon. “As soon as the President of the Republic has left (the island), as soon as the government is formed, I will obviously go to mobilize all of the State’s resources.” But when? Mystery.