French PM
names new government, hoping to avoid another no-confidence vote
Centrist
François Bayrou appoints cabinet from middle political ground, excluding
far-right and hard left
Kim Willsher
in Paris
Mon 23 Dec
2024 14.36 EST
French prime
minister François Bayrou has announced his new government – the country’s
fourth since the beginning of the year – in the hope his administration can see
off another vote of no confidence from a bitterly divided parliament.
There is a
mix of old and new in the latest government, which includes several familiar
faces: former interior minister Gérald Darmanin has been appointed justice
minister; former prime minister Elisabeth Borne, a technocrat, returns to
government as education secretary, while another prime minister Manuel Valls,
who served under the socialist president François Hollande, has been appointed
overseas minister.
Foreign
secretary Jean-Noël Barrot will remain in his post, while right-winger Bruno
Retailleau has been reappointed interior minister. Business leader Éric
Lombard, a former banker, will head up the economy ministry while Sébatien
Lecornu remains at the defence ministry and Rachida Dati as culture minister.
With many
leading political figures looking forward to the 2027 presidential elections
and reluctant to gamble their chances on a government that is likely to fall
within weeks or be paralysed until a new general election can be held next
summer, Bayrou – appointed PM by Emmanuel Macron 10 days ago – has struggled to
find those willing to join his government.
The previous
PM, Michel Barnier, lasted just 90 days before his administration was toppled
by a vote of no confidence.
Centrist
Bayrou had promised to form a “national interest government” across the middle
political ground, excluding Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and
the hard left France Unbowed (LFI). Macron’s government lost its parliamentary
majority after he called a snap election in June after the far right made
historic gains in the European elections.
The move,
however, backfired leaving the French Assemblée Nationale divided into three
roughly equal groups – the left, centre and right – none of which has an
absolute majority.
In a
television interview on Thursday evening, Bayrou, leader of the centrist party
MoDem, said he hoped to present his government’s new budget by mid-February,
adding that he would conduct “the widest possible dialogue” beforehand. He
promised not to use the controversial constitutional article 49.3 to push
through legislation without a debate unless he was “completely blocked”. He
said he was not in favour of new taxes on businesses but understood the
country’s ballooning public deficit had to be addressed with spending cuts.
In an
interview with BFMTV, Bayrou denied that Marine Le Pen had any influence on his
ministerial appointments as claimed by former minister Xavier Bertrand.
Asked
whether his government that includes former ministers, was back to the future,
he said: “It’s the future.”
The
Socialist Party (PS) has described the new government as one “maintained for
and by the far right”. Olivier Faure, secretary general of the PS said he
“couldn’t find a reason not to censure” the government with a no confidence
vote. “We are dismayed by the poverty of what is being proposed,” Faure said.
“The PrimeMinister needs to wake up and understand what is at play,” he said.
Valls’
appointment in particular is seen as a “provocation” for the left, but Bayrou
said: “He has a little bit of a kamikaze personality. I like a daring
personality, those who accept taking risks, He is someone for whom I have
esteem.”
The French
parliament is in recess until 13 January. Bayrou has said the first council of
ministers will be held on 3 January and he will announce his government’s
programme on 14 January.
LFI has said
it will lodge a motion of no confidence following Bayrou’s declaration, which
the Assemblée Nationale will vote on within 48 hours. If it succeeds, the
government will fall again.
Macron spent
Thursday and Friday on Mayotte, located near Madagascar off the coast of
south-eastern Africa, France’s poorest region, which was recently hit by the
worst cyclone in 90 years, killing at least 35 people and injuring another
2,500, 78 seriously. He then travelled to Djibouti and Ethiopia returning to
Paris on Sunday, leaving his new PM struggling to find a consensus
administration. Macron declared Monday a day of national mourning after the
deaths and devastation caused to Mayotte by Cyclone Chido. The president and
the first lady, Brigitte Macron, held a minute silence at the Élysée.
On Monday,
the veteran conservative Xavier Bertrand had been tipped for the justice
ministry but said he was told RN had vetoed his appointment. As a result, he
said he had turned down other ministerial positions as he “refused to
participate in a French government formed with the backing of Marine Le Pen”.
“Accepting
under these conditions would have been a denial of my values, my commitment and
my combat,” he said, adding: “Dealing with extremism … is a mistake.”
In an
interview with Le Parisien on Friday, the LN leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said:
“François Bayrou won’t last the winter”.
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