the NFP denounces the supervision of the RN and raises the specter of censorship

We did not have to wait for the announcement by members of the government on Monday evening for the left to begin to be outraged. A press release from the LR president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, published on the social network The former Sarkozy minister explains that he will not become Keeper of the Seals of the Bayrou government “due to the opposition of the National Rally”adding that he refused to occupy any other position with a Prime Minister who ensures “the endorsement of Marine Le Pen”.

The declaration, conveniently published before the list was made official, was massively relayed on the accounts of left-wing leaders, who saw it as a new provocation on the part of François Bayrou. The details of the ministers, revealed on the steps of the Élysée an hour later, did not calm the anger. “It’s not a government, it’s a provocation. The far right in power under the surveillance of the far right”castigated the boss of the PS, Olivier Faure, on X. The leader of the socialist deputies, Boris Vallaud, was satisfied with a gradation. “Recycling, provocations, submission. Consternation”he summarized. A little earlier, the same had reacted to Xavier Bertrand's press release: “What do you prefer? The leash and the stick of the National Rally or the Republican responsibility, at the cost of demanding negotiations with the left?he pretended to wonder. Same criticisms from the national secretary of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier. “François Bayrou had affirmed that unlike Michel Barnier, he would not put himself in the hands of the RN. Yet that is exactly what he has just done. Marine Le Pen will make him jump rope until he and his government fall”she warned.

Calls for a “start”

The reactions were of the same ilk in the ranks of La France insoumise (LFI). “A government full of people disowned at the polls and who contributed to sinking our country… with the support of Marine Le Pen and the RN”declared on X the president of the Mélenchonist group in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot. His troops were delighted with the return of former Prime Minister Manuel Valls to responsibilities during this reshuffle. The best enemy of the radical left, which he theorized as “irreconcilable” with its own progressive convictions, is already the new scarecrow of LFI. “If you are recalling Manuel Valls, it is because even Judas was not available”mocked LFI deputy Hadrien Clouet on France Info.

If the NFP unanimously crushed the new government, the different parties do not draw the same political conclusions, at least for the moment. While LFI continues to call for censorship of the Bayrou government, then for the resignation of Emmanuel Macron, the socialists still believe in a possible “startle” of the Prime Minister between now and his general policy declaration scheduled for January 14. The 66 PS deputies hope to obtain a suspension of the pension reform in exchange for non-censorship.

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But the presence in the new executive of Élisabeth Borne, who carried out the postponement of the starting age to 64, is not an encouraging signal in their eyes. Just like the weight occupied by the right. In reaction to the Bayrou government's announcement, a socialist executive who was still optimistic before the weekend confessed his dismay. “How can we seriously believe that Mr. Bayrou will win our case?”he blurted. THE “return to home and to reason” of the non-Mélenchonist left predicted by Jean-Luc Mélenchon has never been more probable.