François Bayrou He has been sworn in as Prime Minister of France and has himself confessed that he faces a “difficult mandate.” In his first words, he promised that from “the first minute” he will try to tear down the “glass wall” between the French and their politicians, and fight for “equal opportunities.” His predecessor, Michel Barnierwas dismissed in a motion of censure for not having reached an agreement on the general budgets.
“My way of acting will be hide nothing, neglect nothing and leave nothing aside“, he stated at the headquarters of the Matignon hotel in Paris, after recognizing the “seriousness” of the situation he has just assumed. Furthermore, he evoked the “temptation” of focusing on “one or two issues” and letting them the rest is done “in mediocrity.”
“We have the duty, at such a serious moment for the country, for Europe and in the face of all the risks on the planet, to face with our eyes open, without timidity, the situation inherited from entire decades“marked, according to him, by the absence of searches for balances without which it is difficult for us to live.”
The new prime minister has expressed his “feeling of gratitude” to his predecessor, for “the risk” he has taken in carrying out his mandate and having faced with “demonstrated altruism” the “enormous difficulties, and God knows it well”, that the country faces. “I am aware of the Himalayas of difficulties that lie ahead”.
Social equality as “a duty”
Resolving the “first of the obstacles”, as he has defined the budget crisis that is plaguing the country, is one of the objectives of his mandate. But the fundamental ones, at a “macroscopic” level, are “tearing down the glass wall built between citizens and power, and fulfilling one’s duty.” to give opportunities to those who do not have them“.
On this last issue, the new prime minister wanted to highlight his firm position, remembering his origins. “I come from social environments and from people who are not fortunate enough to be protected or privileged. I believe that our duty as citizens is that we are obsessed with giving opportunities to those who do not have them. It is a sacred duty for me“.
In statements collected by the newspaper The Worldreferred to Henry IV, who “based his meeting with France in such difficult times, more difficult than those we are experiencing today.” “If I can, in turn, I will try to serve this necessary reconciliation and I believe that this is the only possible path to success,” added François Bayrou at the end of his speech.
“A mandate doomed to failure”
Michel Barnier, minutes before, gave him the witness after evaluating his brief term, “almost doomed to failure“. “I knew from the first day that the time of my government was limited,” he explained, exposed to a “unlikely political alliance” which has finally marked his decline. Politics “cannot be resolved between us,” he stated before encouraging “young people” to “get involved.”
The former prime minister governed in a minority and this lack of support led to difficulties in approving his budgets. In this context, he resorted to Article 49.3 of the French Constitution, which contemplates the possibility of approving laws by avoiding the parliamentary vote in exchange for having to submit to a motion of censure, promoted by the left and supported by the extreme right, which ultimately could not be saved.
