French President Emmanuel Macron has named François Bayrou his fourth prime minister of 2024, tasking the veteran centrist with steering the country out of its second major political crisis in the last six months.
The 73-year-old was appointed nine days after parliament in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over his attempts to pass a cost-cutting 2025 budget.
“The president of the Republic has appointed Mr. François Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government,” the presidency said.
Bayrou is the sixth prime minister of Macron’s mandate, with his predecessor Barnier, France’s shortest-serving premier, having lasted only three months.
Three times a presidential candidate himself, in 2002, 2007 and 2012 — and long cited as an obvious choice for Macron as head of government — he .
What is Bayrou’s background?
Bayrou, 73, heads the liberal Democratic Movement (MoDem) party which is allied to, but not part of, Macron’s centrist force and has supported the president ever since his victorious 2017 election campaign.
He was named justice minister by Macron when he took the presidency in 2017. He resigned the same year when a legal case was opened against him over the alleged fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants by his party, but remained a key behind-the-scenes ally.
Bayrou was acquitted in February after the seven-year-long case, with the judge ruling that he was owed the “benefit of the doubt”. His acquittal opened up a potential return to government.
Bayrou has had a long and varied political career, during which he has worked with former right-wing presidents Valery Giscard d’Estaing and Jacques Chirac before backing Socialist Francois Hollande in 2012.
Mayor of the southwestern city of Pau, Bayrou is a practising Catholic but also a staunch supporter of France’s secular system.
Bayrou will be the sixth prime minister of Macron’s mandate, and fourth this year. Source: AAP, EPA / Teresa Suarez
He gained notoriety during the 2002 presidential campaign when he slapped on the face a child who tried to pick his pocket.
He won less than 7 per cent of the vote and was eliminated in the first round.
The father of six children, Bayrou is also the author of a biography of the 16th- and 17th-century French king Henry IV.
What challenges does Bayrou face?
Bayrou will have to navigate a tricky course as the sixth prime minister of Macron’s presidency.
Each successive premier has served for a shorter period than their predecessor and, given the composition of the National Assembly lower house, there is no guarantee that Barnier’s successor will last any longer than the three months that the right-winger was in office.
His immediate priority will be passing a special law to roll over the 2024 budget, with a nastier battle over the 2025 legislation looming early next year.
Parliamentary pushback over Barnier’s 2025 bill led to Barnier’s downfall, and progressive leaders announced on Friday that they might try to topple Bayrou as well should he use special constitutional powers to ram through the budget against parliament.
François Bayrou (right) acknowledged the “Himalaya” that stands before him during a handover ceremony alongside outgoing prime minister Michel Barnier. Source: AAP, EPA / Teresa Suarez
Barnier’s budget bill, which aimed for 60 billion euros ($99 billion) in savings to assuage investors increasingly concerned by France’s 6 per cent deficit, was deemed too miserly by the parties on the right and left extremes.
In a speech alongside Barnier on Friday, Bayrou acknowledged the challenge.
“Nobody knows the difficulty of the situation better than I do … I am not unaware of the Himalaya that stands before us,” he said.
“I believe that this issue, the deficit and debt, is an issue that poses a moral problem, not just a financial one.”
He will be tasked with holding dialogue with all political forces except the far-right National Rally (RN) and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) parties “in order to find conditions for stability and action”, a member of Macron’s team said on Friday.
Bayrou’s proximity to the deeply unpopular Macron may prove to be a vulnerability.
François Bayrou has been a longtime ally of President Emmanuel Macron. Source: Getty / Julien de Rosa
The Socialist Party, which Macron courted during his prime ministerial search, accused the president of ignoring their demands for a leftist leader in favour of a “risky” Macronista.
“We will thus not enter the government and remain in the opposition,” said Boris Vallaud, the leader of the Socialists’ parliamentary bloc.
Reaction to Bayrou’s appointment on the left will be a concern for Macron, with the prime minister likely living day to day at the mercy of the president’s opponents for the foreseeable future.
Leaders of the populist leftist France Unbowed party said they would be seeking to immediately remove Bayrou while leaders from other progressive parties took a more nuanced approach.
Greens boss Marine Tondelier also said she would support a no-confidence motion if the prime minister ignored their tax and pensions concerns.
Communist leader Fabien Roussel said his party would hold fire against Bayrou and decide on a case-by-case basis if he promises not to ram through legislation.
Jordan Bardella, president of the populist conservative National Rally (RN) party, said it would not be calling for an immediate no-confidence motion, while fellow RN leader Marine Le Pen said Bayrou should listen to the opposition’s budgetary wishes.
Macron will hope Bayrou can stave off no-confidence votes until at least July, when France will be able to hold a new parliamentary election.
