President Emmanuel Macron has chosen Francois Bayrou as France’s new Prime Minister. He follows his predecessor Micheal Barnier who resigned after losing a non-confidence vote in the lower government house. Of the 577 legislators, 331 voted to remove Barnier as the head of government in the semi-presidential state. Macron consulted with numerous political leaders in hopes of finding a new leader for France. Bayrou has been a close ally of the President since the election in 2017, where he openly showed his support for the candidate.
Bayrou was born to a family of farmers and grew up in the quaint town of Bordères.
Bayrou has established a reputation for himself in French politics, which he’s been in for more than 40 years. His roots were in Christian Democrat traditions; ideologies inspired by the catholic church. In 1986 he was elected into the National Assembly and became a member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2002. As a classical language teacher in his 20s, he served as education minister from 1993 to 1997. Briefly, in 2017 he was the justice minister, however, he stepped down after being accused of a party funding scandal. He was cleared of charges yet prosecutors have appealed against his acquittal, signifying that that he could be brought to court again. Bayrou has run for presidency 3 times and was closest to victory in 2007 when he came in 3rd with almost 19 percent of the vote. He gained infamy during his 2002 campaign for the presidency when a child allegedly tried to pick his pocket and he slapped him. Before becoming the prime minister, he served as the mayor of Pau, a town in southwest, France. He also holds the position of high commissioner of planning, meaning he’s responsible for leading and coordinating projects related to social, environmental and technological issues.
During his handover speech, Bayrou said that “no one knows the difficulty of the situation better” than he does. “I’ve taken reckless risks all along my political life to raise the issue of debt and deficits in the most important elections.” France has been under pressure from the European Union’s executives and financial markets to reduce its debt. Their debt is expected to reach 6 percent of its gross domestic product this year. According to the Commodity, France has over USD 3 trillion in debt. A statistic shared by USnews shows France as the 6th highest country with the most financial problems. “I know that the risks of difficulties are much greater than the chances of success,” said Bayrou. He added that he hopes to lead the country to reconciliation.
The 2025 budget is expected to be a major topic between the new prime minister and other political leaders as it was a factor to Barnier’s downfall. The former leader used a constitutional measure to push through a budget for security in 2025, however, parliament did not approve of this action. This resulted in no budget for the upcoming year, which is a main responsibility for Bayrou. According to Amine Insoumise, any political figure from the centre-right or right is condemned to failure. “The united left is the strongest coalition in the parliament. Centrists do not have a majority. They have to lean on the left or the far right,” he said to Al Jazeera. Jonathan Machler, an activist and member of the French Communist Party said Bayrou’s appointment will plunge France deeper into a political crisis. “The only alternative for the government to last is to finally listen to the aspirations of the French people and shift its policies to the left, notably on the repeal of pension reform, the question of wages, aid for farmers and an end to the weakening of public services,” he said. Nevertheless, some experts believe this power shift can unite French politicians. Jacob Ross, a specialist on France’s government told reporters that “throughout his long career, he at times supported candidates from the left, at times from the right, which makes him a good candidate to build a broad coalition capable of governing the country until September and the potential next snap elections in the national assembly.”
After an economic crisis in the French government, doubts have been circulating over whether Bayrou is the best fit for the Prime Minister of France. His experience in education and politics made him a good candidate for the position, however, there are many doubts that he will lead the country to success after a political crisis.
Written by Suriya Rampersad
