► Macron will appoint the new head of government Thursday evening
The appointment of the new prime minister will not take place this Wednesday, December 11 but is expected on Thursday, indicated a source within the executive.
Emmanuel Macron goes to Poland on Thursday, and the appointment will take place “rather when he returns” at the end of the day, said this source. Tuesday, on the sidelines of a meeting at the Élysée with party leaders, the president committed to appointing a new head of government “within 48 hours”.
► More than 30 MP offices degraded by farmers
In one week, more than 30 deputies saw their parliamentary permanence in the regions degraded by farmers who were protesting against the consequences of government censorship, lamented the president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet.
“Distress and concerns, however legitimate they may be, cannot be expressed through intimidation of democratically elected representatives”she said in a press release.
The President of the Assembly “will ensure that each deputy victim of this damage is supported by the services of the National Assembly in the process of filing a complaint and can benefit from functional protection when this proves necessary”she added.
► Hervé Marseille (UDI) praises Bayrou’s experience
The president of MoDem, François Bayrou, “has experience” to endorse “usefully” the role of future prime minister if he were chosen by Emmanuel Macron, estimated Hervé Marseille, boss of the UDI and the centrist group in the Senate.
Cited among the favorites for Matignon, François Bayrou “is actually one of the people who have the experience and the capacity to do so, if he were to benefit from this responsibility”said the senator from Hauts-de-Seine before the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (AJP), ensuring that the hypothesis of a centrist prime minister “would obviously be welcome”.
“François has the experience which allows him to be validly and usefully (in post) at Matignon”added Hervé Marseille.
► Macron still seeks to broaden the “base” of the coalition
Emmanuel Macron said in the Council of Ministers that the “base” of parties which supported the executive of Michel Barnier, bringing together the presidential camp and the right, had not been able “as is” be expanded, reported government spokesperson Maud Bregeon.
The president has “insisted on the fact that there was currently no broader base than that which is in place today. And it therefore remained to be seen whether some were ready to broaden this base or to agree on a principle of non-censorship”she declared to the press while discussions are underway with socialists, communists and environmentalists.
She did not specify whether this meant that Emmanuel Macron would choose a new prime minister in this outgoing coalition between the Macronists and The Republicans.
► The last council of ministers is over
The final meeting for the outgoing ministerial team ended a little after 11 a.m. This last council of ministers of the resigned government aimed to adopt the special bill which aims to enable the functioning of the State while the 2025 budget was not adopted, due to the vote on the motion of censure.
“It is a question of ensuring, on a transitional and exceptional basis, the continuity of the life of the nation, the regular functioning of public services and the respect of our financial commitments”summarized Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin.
This bill, which will be examined on Monday in the Assembly then on December 18 in the Senate, will allow the government to raise taxes and spend in 2025, on the basis of a renewal of the budget for the current year.
► For the PS, this “cannot be François Bayrou”
The new prime minister “cannot be François Bayrou” who would embody a “continuity” of macronism, said the first secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure who wants a prime minister “from the left”.
“It can’t be François Bayrou”said Olivier Faure on BFMTV/RMC, without commenting on possible censorship of a government led by the centrist who is the favorite to be appointed to Matignon.
The Prime Minister must be “from the left” but not necessarily from the parties making up the New Popular Front, he said. He will have “the obligation” to go “seek compromises in Parliament” since the left is committed “not to use 49.3” to pass texts.
► The special law at the last council of ministers at the Élysée
The day after an unprecedented meeting around Emmanuel Macron of party leaders (excluding LFI and RN), Michel Barnier and his government meet on Wednesday morning one last time at the Élysée. An extremely rare occurrence for a resigning team.
On the menu for this council of ministers: a draft “special law” to ensure the continuity of the State from January. The censorship of Michel Barnier last week, barely three months after his appointment, effectively left the 2025 budget in suspense.
The text is reduced to its simplest expression to authorize the government to raise taxes and spend credits on the basis of the budget for the current year. The left, however, intends to amend it to ensure that the income tax scale is well indexed to inflation, in order to prevent a large number of French people from seeing their tax burden increase. The Council of State warned on Tuesday that this provision had no place in a special law.
► A new head of government before Thursday evening
Emmanuel Macron promised Tuesday to the leaders of the communists, socialists, ecologists, the presidential camp and the Les Républicains party, to appoint “within 48 hours” the successor of Michel Barnier at Matignon. Several relatives are counting on a choice from Wednesday evening.
It is up to the new tenant of Matignon to negotiate with these parties a participation in the government, or their support for certain texts including the budget, or even, at a minimum, an agreement on « non-censorship ». Only then will he put together his team.
For two and a half hours on Tuesday, behind closed doors, everyone advanced their pawns, refined their red lines and outlined their concessions. Emmanuel Macron stressed “his desire not to dissolve” the Assembly again by 2027, according to his entourage. He also noted “a unanimity of political forces to no longer depend on the National Rally”.
► No 49.3, no motion of censure, according to the left
The boss of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier affirmed that if a left-wing prime minister was appointed, he could commit not to use 49.3, this constitutional tool which allows laws to be adopted without a vote by engaging the government's responsibility.
His communist counterpart Fabien Roussel completed by saying that in exchange, the opponents could undertake not to resort to a new motion of censure.
And “exchange of good practices” which has made its way, according to the first secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure. But all these officials suspend their decision in the name of the new prime minister.
