Expected to take over the Ministry of Justice, Xavier Bertrand was ultimately not retained in François Bayrou's government. The portfolio was assigned to the former Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. A few minutes before the official announcement of the new government team, the president of Les Républicains des Hauts-de-France announced the news in a press release on X.
He reveals that the Prime Minister had indeed offered him the post of Minister of Justice before backpedaling “due to the opposition of the National Rally”. François Bayrou would have offered him the head of other ministries, but Xavier Bertrand explains that he refused “to participate in a government of France formed with the endorsement of Marine Le Pen“.
Guest of BFMTV on Monday December 23, François Bayrou refuted any pressure from the RN. “It has nothing to do with distrust of Marine Le Pen, it has to do with distrust of me,” he said. He explains that Xavier Bertrand “proposed an approach that[il a] found violent” for the Ministry of Justice. François Bayrou also assured any “influence” of the National Rally on the composition of his government.
Those around Xavier Bertrand said they were “heartbroken” that the head of government “resorted to lies to justify his decision”.
More than tense relations with the RN
The least we can say is that relations between Xavier Bertrand and the National Rally are extremely tense. And one sentence demonstrates this in particular. In 2021, when he had just been re-elected as head of the Hauts-de-France regional council against Sébastien Chenu (RN) and Karima Delli (Les Écologues), the former Sarkozy minister was delighted to have managed to “break the jaws of the National Front”.
Among the leaders of the RN party, this declaration sealed a mutual hatred. At the end of the summer, Emmanuel Macron was considering the name of his next Prime Minister after the dissolution of the National Assembly and the anticipated legislative elections. Already, Jordan Bardella's party had vetoed the name of Xavier Bertrand.
We cannot work with Xavier Bertrand, he is extremely sectarian
Jean-PhilippeTanguy, RN deputy at the microphone of RTL
While François Bayrou was working on the composition of his government, the RN deputies, once again, expressed their discontent if Xavier Bertrand were to become part of the Bayrou government. Guest of Grand Jury RTL-M6-Le Figaro-Public Sénat Sunday December 22, elected official Thomas Ménage declared that “if Bertrand becomes Minister of the Economy, it will be a very bad signal”.
On RTL, this Tuesday, December 24, Jean-Philippe Tanguy added: “We cannot work with Xavier Bertrand, he is extremely sectarian. It is not simply a question of the person.”
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