“The echoes are catastrophic, on all benches.” This is thus summarized, by a Macronist collaborator, what the deputies think of the very delicate first days of the new Prime Minister, François Bayrou, appointed Friday December 13 to Matignon after the censorship of Michel Barnier on December 4. Upon his arrival, the Béarnais had to deal with a major crisis, with the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte.
Even before his appointment, it all started with a standoff on Friday between Emmanuel Macron and his historic ally. The name of the mayor of Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) has been mentioned for several days for Matignon, without official confirmation. In the morning, he spoke for two hours with the head of state. According to information from France Télévisions, their interview “is very tense” and other avenues regain strength before the tenant of the Elysée resigns himself to appointing François Bayrou at the end of the morning.
In front of his troops gathered in Matignon, Friday evening, the Prime Minister returns to this battle which has just been played out at the highest summit of the State.
“He was immediately aware of having won a test of strength against Emmanuel Macron, to whom he said: ‘I joined you to do big things and not small ones.'”
A close friend of François Bayrouat franceinfo
According to several people present, François Bayrou says he threatened the president to leave the presidential bloc “personally” and to hold a press conference at the same time, assures a deputy.
The next day, Michel Barnier’s replacement begins his consultations, on the institutional side, to address the political situation. He notably receives the first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and the president of the Senate, Gérard Larcher. But the news immediately caught up with the Prime Minister, with the first consequences of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte. The archipelago was hit very hard, the first deaths were announced at the beginning of the afternoon and a crisis meeting was announced for the evening. At a press conference, Bruno Retailleau said he feared that the human toll would “be heavy”but the image that televisions and social networks retain remains the hasty taking of leave by François Bayrou, who disappears while the resigning Minister of the Interior is speaking.
In parallel with the crisis management in Mayotte, the Prime Minister is trying to calm relations with the Elysée, after the difficult “showdown” on Friday. In La Tribune SundayFrançois Bayrou praises the one who has been his political ally since 2017. “He is a man whose audacity and courage people may not realize. There is nothing simpler for me than to work with him”explains the new head of government, who denies everything “confrontation” between the two heads of the executive.
Without any assurance of reaching a non-censorship agreement, and therefore of remaining in Matignon for the long term, François Bayrou is taking on the tough stuff by receiving the leaders of the main parties on Monday. Is there a way to negotiate texts, or even to bring in figures of openness into the government? Received first, the RN says to himself “listen” and greet a “more positive method” than before, but the PS refuses to validate a “non-censorship agreement”, which immediately weakens the Prime Minister and his future team.
In parallel with these consultations, a controversy began to swell from the beginning of the afternoon. The Prime Minister is preparing to take a Republic Falcon to attend the Pau municipal council at 7 p.m. However, an hour earlier, an interministerial crisis council was held in Beauvau on the situation in Mayotte chaired by Emmanuel Macron. François Bayrou will attend by video from the prefecture, his entourage says, assuring that the Prime Minister has taken this “long-standing commitment”.
The opposition is quick to criticize this choice. “The French people deserve better than an illegitimate half-time Prime Minister”, denounces on X Clémence Guetté, LFI vice-president of the National Assembly. “Unworthy and disrespectful”, pings, on the same social network, the PS deputy Arthur Delaporte. In the ministerial corridors too, this presence in Pau calls out to more than one person. “It’s mind-blowing. Especially after he left the press conference,” delivers an advisor. “He’s a man from the territories, he wants to show that he won’t be part of Parisianism. You might think that’s clumsy but he’s taking care of the crisis in Mayotte.” defends the MoDem deputy Richard Ramos. But, even in his own camp, some had difficulty justifying this choice, while Mayotte counts its dead.
“I wouldn’t have done anything like him. I would have gone straight to Mayotte. He gets tripped up by going to Pau.”
A close friend of François Bayrouat franceinfo
Despite the controversyFrançois Bayrou is in Pau that same evening, where the municipal council is broadcast live on the news channels. Again, local opponents of the councilor attack him on his presence. “We are not here to put on a show, Mr. Bayrou, criticizes the opposition elected representative of the Democratic and Social Left Tuncay Cilgi. The first question that comes to mind is what are you doing here? You are out of place. I consider the fact that you came here to be a political mistake. Your first mission is to go to Mayotte.”
Straight in his boots, François Bayrou assures that he is taking care of the situation on the archipelago and that he will continue to be mayor of Pau, arguing that “if you abandon grassroots responsibilities, you find yourself isolated and forgetful.” He takes the opportunity to relaunch the debate on non-cumulative mandates. “We made a mistake in [rendant] incompatible local and national responsibilities, it is an error”, he assures. Interviewed by the press, he also says he no longer remembers that he had opposed this combination in the past. Here again, the Prime Minister’s statements raise questions, while the new government has not been formed and France still has no budget, not to mention Mayotte. “I’m not sure we should go back to non-cumulation, the rule seems good to me”, sighs a MoDem elected official.
Asked about the formation of the government, François Bayrou also sets himself as “timetable” the current week and adds, still from Pau, that“the President of the Republic must also be there.” A reference to the Head of State’s trips to Mayotte and Brussels, scheduled for Thursday. The little sentence is moderately appreciated by the Elysée, which decides to take the Prime Minister at his word. “We are ready”, said Tuesday morning a close friend of the president, adding that Emmanuel Macron is waiting for the “proposals following the consultations” of the head of government. “Macron is going to put all the pressure on him,” laughs a parliamentary collaborator. While at LR, we are delaying possible participation in government. “He was fooled by his own game with Macron. He will have to go quickly but our group will say ‘minute butterfly’“, slips a right-wing MP.
At the same time on franceinfothe President of the National Assembly directly attacks François Bayrou. “I would actually have preferred that the Prime Minister, instead of taking a plane to Pau, took a plane to Mamoudzou,” squeaks Yaël Braun-Pivet, also saying to himself “against the accumulation of mandates”. Macronia discomfort. “Coming to slap the Prime Minister like that is a bit excessive,” breathes an EPR deputy crossed at the Palais-Bourbon. But others just let go. “It’s already a rout. Between Mayotte and the municipal council, how is this possible? Yaël Braun-Pivet who hits. The president who doesn’t help…”, delivered by a parliamentary collaborator.
“François Bayrou is already demonetized.”
A parliamentary collaboratorat France Télévisions
François Bayrou continues to have a series of meetings at Matignon with political groups. On the left, we don’t hesitate to criticize him. The Prime Minister “has not given any information on the political direction he plans to take. He is paving the way for his own censorship, tackle at the exit Cyrielle Chatelain, president of the environmental group in the Assembly. We were faced with a Prime Minister who spoke more about Pau than about France.”
At 3 p.m., Tuesday, the tenant of Matignon takes part in an unprecedented exercise: he will answer questions from deputies alone, in the absence of government. Unsurprisingly, the opposition criticizes his return to Pau. “You should not have gone to Pau to keep a mandate”attacks the leader of the LFI deputies, Mathilde Panot. “Pau is in France (…). If I had been in a town hall in the 7th arrondissement, or the town hall of Neuilly, you would have considered it to be very good”, answers him on the François Bayrou benchdenouncing “a rupture between the life of the province and the circle of powers in Paris”.
The boss of MoDem also commits a new blunder, by declaring that“it is not customary for the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to leave the national territory at the same time.” An exit immediately mocked by its opponents, who did not fail to point out that Mayotte is a French department. At the exit of the hemicycle, some are stunned. “It was catastrophic, we expected him to prepare a little better for the exercise,” blows an LR deputy. Not enough to alarm some very close to the Prime Minister. “It’s easy to criticize. The hardest thing is to build and he’s a builder”retorts one of them.
Next challenge for François Bayrou: the constitution of a government bringing together personalities from the right and the left, which promises to be very difficult. After his first clumsy steps, the tenant of Matignon already has no room for error.
