France | A new government with an air of déjà vu

(Paris) After ten days of negotiations, France has had a new government since Monday evening, which gives pride of place to old names with the return of former heavyweights of French politics and is firmly expected in a National Assembly without a majority .

The new centrist Prime Minister François Bayrou, 73, praised X as a “collective of experience to reconcile and renew trust with all French people”.

On BFMTV television, he said he was “persuaded” to escape the censorship of MPs, which brought down his predecessor, the former European Commissioner Michel Barnier, at the beginning of December.

But the composition of this government, still oriented to the right and the center, has sparked an avalanche of criticism from the left-wing opposition parties, which came first in the June legislative elections, and from Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) ( extreme right).

“An extreme right in power, under the surveillance of the extreme right,” judged the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure. A team “full[e] of people disowned at the polls and who contributed to sinking our country,” added the head of the LFI (radical left) deputies Mathilde Panot. The leader of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, accused the Prime Minister of “indignity”, accusing him of putting himself “in the hands of the extreme right”.

“Fortunately, ridicule does not kill”, because “François Bayrou has brought together the coalition of failure”, quipped the president of the RN, MEP Jordan Bardella.

“Fortunately, ridicule does not kill” because “François Bayrou has brought together the coalition of failure,” quipped the president of the RN, MEP Jordan Bardella.

Once expected at the Ministry of Justice, one of the heavyweights of the right-wing Les Républicains party, Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region (North), indicated that he had been excluded from the new government “because of the opposition of the National Rally”, of which he has long been a virulent opponent.

Monday evening, Mr. Bayrou refuted any “influence” from the far right, affirming that Mr. Bertrand was proposing an “approach” which is “not mine”.

Two former prime ministers

Mr. Bayrou's team marks the return of two former prime ministers, Elisabeth Borne (Education), first head of government (2022-2024) of Emmanuel Macron's second term, and Manuel Valls (Overseas), first minister (2014-2016) of François Hollande. Another returnee: the ambitious Gérald Darmanin, former Minister of the Interior, who inherits the Justice portfolio.

It is marked by a certain continuity with 19 ministers retained, including those of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot and of the Armies Sébastien Lecornu reappointed to their posts, just like the very conservative Bruno Retailleau, renewed at the Ministry of the Interior despite his divisive profile .

The director of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a public financial institution, Eric Lombard, becomes Minister of the Economy and Finance, a crucial position at a time when France is facing one of the worst budgetary crises in its recent history.

As soon as he took office, this economic technician called for “treating our endemic evil, the deficit”, which should peak at 6.1% of GDP in 2024.

François Bayrou was appointed by Emmanuel Macron after long consultations to find a successor to the conservative Michel Barnier, whose minority government was overthrown on December 4 by the cumulative vote of left and far-right deputies after only three months in office. job.

Mr. Bayrou is the sixth head of government since Mr. Macron's first election in 2017 and the fourth since the start of the year, an instability that France has not experienced for decades.

Historically low popularity

The new prime minister must navigate the fragmented political scene resulting from the early legislative elections organized after the surprise dissolution of the National Assembly by Mr. Macron in June. The hemicycle is divided into three blocks (left/center right and right/far right), none of which has an absolute majority.

Mr. Bayrou wanted to form a tight team that was as open as possible. He wanted it to include significant personalities, from the left as well as the right and center, in order to respond to the emergencies facing the country and to avoid further censorship. But this opening objective is far from being achieved.

Above all, ministers will have to urgently prepare a budget for 2025, under pressure from oppositions and the financial markets.

Mr. Bayrou has a historically low popularity rating for taking office, with 66% of French people saying they are dissatisfied, according to a barometer published on Sunday.