The new government of Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a frantic fortnight as it battles to establish its credibility and fend off cross-party attempts to kill it in its infancy.
“I am confident that the policies I am outlining and the government team I have formed will ensure we are not censured,” declared Bayrou just hours after announcing his cabinet on Monday evening.
Bayrou, 73, a canny operator who styles himself as a centrist, is President Emmanuel Macron’s fourth Prime Minister of 2024.
His predecessor, Michel Barnier left office on 8 December after three months in post following a parliamentary deal between the far right and left to oust him.
The pact furnished him with the infamy of being the premier with the shortest tenure since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
French PM Bayrou defends choices to lead country out of ‘difficult situation’
Bayrou and his cohorts could face a similar fate.
“None of the conditions of the no-confidence pact have been met in the composition of this new government,” Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said.
He indicated that his group might vote for a motion of no confidence as early as 14 January, when Bayrou delivers his policy statement.
The newly anointed Justice Minister has pledged to work hand in hand with Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, one of 19 ministers from Barnier’s government of Barnier who have been retained.
After his appointment he identified the deficit as an endemic problem.
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