The resentment was undoubtedly too strong and Xavier Bertrand chose frankness. By publishing, barely an hour before the announcement of the new government, a press release affirming that he had not been appointed Minister of Justice “because of the opposition of the National Rally”, the Republican President of Hauts-de -France has thrown a stone into the pond. After pushing Michel Barnier to make several concessions on his budget, before deciding to censor it anyway, the RN continues to pull the strings. It will be interesting to know if it was François Bayrou or Emmanuel Macron who decided to “unplug” Xavier Bertrand at the last moment. Personally, the blow is hard to absorb for the latter, who is paying for years of political combat against the far-right and Marine Le Pen. The gift made by the executive to the head of the largest group in the Assembly will have another consequence: to further direct the PS towards the central bloc and François Bayrou, with whom the discussions to obtain , in the absence of a coalition, a non-aggression agreement in the coming months, had already gotten off to a bad start. This government's ghost dance will not warm up their relations either. The muscular tandem formed by Gérald Darmanin and Bruno Retailleau at Justice and the Interior, the appointments of Élisabeth Borne and Manuels Valls, former prime ministers rallied to Macronism, are anything but good signals sent to the left. Like Michel Barnier, François Bayrou failed to expand his majority and will be at the mercy of censorship as soon as parliamentary work resumes on January 13. The Béarnais will have to play tight, hence the choice to surround himself with experienced personalities, experienced in parliamentary negotiations and political contests. A heavyweight team of which Xavier Bertrand will ruminate for a long time about not being part of.
France
