François Bayrou appointed French prime minister

President Emmanuel Macron has chosen his longtime ally Francois Bairro as prime minister in an attempt to stabilize the political turmoil in France that has marred his second term.

The appointment of the 73-year-old centrist came after a tense meeting at the Elysee Palace that lasted nearly two hours, prompting speculation that Macron had reconsidered other names at the last minute.

It followed a year of political instability, with Macron now appointing three prime ministers. a crisis that deepened when the president called and lost a snap election in July that left no party or bloc with a majority in the National Assembly.

Bairu is tasked with building a government with enough cross-party support to survive a confidence vote, pass a budget and calm financial markets and businesses shaken by recent volatility.

The scale of that task was underlined on Friday evening when Moody’s downgraded France’s credit rating from Aa2 to Aa3.

The rating agency said the move “reflects our view that the country’s public finances will weaken significantly in the coming years.”

“In a highly fragmented political environment, there is now very little chance that the next government will sustainably reduce the size of the fiscal deficit beyond next year,” Moody’s said.

The political crisis has undermined Macro on the international stage, just as neighboring Germany prepares for snap elections in Feb. As US President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month, both EU powers are reeling from uncertainty.

“Everyone knows the difficulty of the task, and everyone also knows that there is a way that unites people instead of dividing them. . There is a long road ahead,” Bayrou said Friday afternoon shortly after his appointment.

Bayrou’s predecessor, former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, was ousted by a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly last week after just three months in office. despite not having a parliamentary majority.

A three-time presidential candidate, the new prime minister combines a market-based view of the economy with support for social justice measures such as taxing the rich.

He also called for proportional voting to promote a culture of compromise in parliament and devolve more power from Paris to the rest of the country.

But his appointment was immediately criticized by Macron’s opponents, including the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party of Macron’s rival Marine Le Pen, which played a key role in Barnier’s ouster.

“Macron is a president in the bunker and his new prime minister has to take into account the new political situation,” said Jordan Bardela, head of the RN party. back,” he added.

The moderate left, whose support is crucial to neutralizing the RN, also made clear its displeasure with Bayrou’s appointment.

Socialist Party spokeswoman Chloe Riedel criticized Macron for choosing an ally from the left, the first in July’s parliamentary elections.

“If Bairu wants our support, he needs to take action on parts of our agenda, such as pensions or salaries,” he said.

A person close to Macron defended the election, saying that Bayrou “has emerged as the most consensual figure in recent days. . . and: [the one] best suited to form a government of national unity called by the president.”

The person added: “His mission will be dialogue with all political parties. . to create conditions of stability and effective operations”.

Uncertainty now afflicts French politics contrasts not only with Macron’s first term, when he had an overwhelming majority, but also with much of the Fifth Republic’s 66-year history, during which most governments have been relatively stable.

Investment and growth have slowed and unemployment has risen amid the political crisis.

France is under pressure to reduce its deficit, which will be 6 percent of national product by the end of the year, well above the EU’s limit of 3 percent of GDP.

Macron has tried to prepare the ground for a new government through a non-aggression pact with opposition party leaders, excluding the far right and far left.

To leave the RN, he and Bayrou would have to reach an agreement with the Socialists, who have 66 seats, and possibly the Greens, 38 and the Communists, 17, while not losing the right-wing.

Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said nominating a loyalist as prime minister “is a bad signal that is not what the public wants,” adding: “.

However, in a more conciliatory tone, he added. “We will not automatically condemn this new government and will judge based on its actions.”

Much will depend on how far Bayrou departs from Macron’s pro-business policies and tax cuts to chart his own path.

His support was key to Macron’s first election in 2017, and his MoDem party backs the president, but legal troubles forced him to step down as Macron’s first justice minister after just one month in office.

Bayrou and his party were accused of misappropriating EU funds by using Brussels staff for national political activities.He was acquitted this year, but prosecutors appealed, raising the possibility of a retrial.

If another prime minister were to fall, pressure would mount on Macron, who still has two-and-a-half years left in his presidency, to resign to break the political deadlock.

The president has insisted he will not step down because he wants to push through more reforms and defend past changes such as raising the retirement age and efforts to make France more attractive to investors.

In an Elabe poll this week, only 6 percent of respondents said they wanted a prime minister from Macron’s centrist camp, while 41 percent preferred a non-political choice.

But most respondents, 76 percent, said they wanted the parties to find compromises to end the instability, in a sign that another government could be at risk for the opposition.

Macron’s popularity has hit a record low since his election in 2017, with only 21 percent of people confident he can solve France’s problems, a separate Elabe poll said Thursday.

Among the possible candidates for the Prime Minister, Bairu received the support of only 29 percent of the participants of the same survey.

Data visualization by Janina Conboye