His presence in Pau when the crisis unit in Mayotte was organized on Monday evening did not pass. Just like his plea for the accumulation of mandates.
François Bayrou seated under a monumental portrait of Henry IV… The scene was at the center of the discussions of all political staffs on Tuesday morning. Why did the new Prime Minister, who had performed flawlessly since his appointment to Matignon, go to chair the Municipal Council of Pau instead of staying in Paris to manage the crisis in Mayotte and continue his consultations with a view to forming his government ?
But above all why did he, on this occasion, defend the return to the accumulation of mandates ensuring: “We made a mistake in [rendant] incompatible local and national responsibilities, it is an error […] I think this debate needs to be taken up again.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet is already opposed
“There is perhaps a little euphoria in this attitude, it will have to come down”snarled a former minister on Tuesday.
The mayor of Pau is, in fact, aware that the proposal divides even in his own camp. Now, more than ever, he needs to bring people together. The President of the Assembly was the first to react: “I am against the accumulation of mandates. When we exercise a function, we must exercise it full time”she said. And to insist: “We must not bring this subject back to the table. This is really not the right time.”
It’s an old debate between François Bayrou and Yaël Braun-Pivet. “I try to convince her that not accumulating is a mistake but I can’t do it”one of his relatives assured us a few months ago.
The Macronist group divided
The subject was debated yesterday during the meeting of the Macronist group Ensemble pour la République in the Assembly.
At the exit, one of the deputies who participated told us: “The group is very divided between those who adhere to a strict Macronist line and those who have had experience as a local elected official and who do not understand that one can be a deputy and regional councilor and not a deputy and mayor of a municipality of 10,000 inhabitants”.
A former minister from the LR assures La Dépêche: “The non-cumulation has caused the position of deputy to lose attractiveness and visibility. Furthermore, those who have chosen to remain mayor are turning away from national issues and are even beginning to experience a sort of rejection”.
But it is on the right that the words of the new tenant of Matignon must have been most appreciated. The LR have in fact tabled several proposals to return to this reform by François Hollande.
In a report presented in the spring by a working group led by Gérard Larcher himself, the reform is placed at the top of the recommendations.
Hand extended to LR
But both LR and Macronists have above all highlighted the incongruity of the timing chosen by the Prime Minister to make his declarations: “It really wasn’t the time to open this debate. The French have other concerns at the moment. We really give the feeling that we only care about ourselves”, underlined an elected official.
However, no one in the center of the hemicycle wanted to load the boat of the Head of Government: “Being in the analysis of the small edge fault is really not up to the task”, annoyed a deputy who wanted above all that the new government team would last longer than Michel Barnier’s team: “Bayrou is clever. We must trust him. This controversy does not call into question his ability to form a government”he assured us in the form of an incantation.
It is not even forbidden to see a hand outstretched towards the LR who are still hesitant to board the government boat.
