Three months before Christmas, the family meal was already looking very tense. Emmanuel Macron gathered Wednesday evening the fine flower of Macronie for a dinner at the Elysée. The opportunity to close ranks while its majority is falling over the thorny pension reform. Among the guests, François Bayrou. For several weeks, the boss of the MoDem has been loudly proclaiming his opposition to a “forced passage” on this subject. In this tense context, the President of the Republic is visiting the mayor of Pau this Friday, who continues to annoy some of the macronists.
“He always has to make his difference heard”
Because François Bayrou’s exit on pensions on September 17th had the effect of a small bomb. Just a few minutes before the big rout to launch the new Renaissance presidential party, the boss of the MoDem crushed in the Parisian the president’s desire to “accelerate” on pensions and the possibility of having the text voted on by simple amendment to the Social Security financing bill.
The mayor of Pau ruined the party and even refused to participate, forcing the Macronists to sneak his name off a chair present in the front row of the meeting… Despite the wrath of the macronists, François Bayrou renewed his criticism of “a brutal measure” several times in the following days in the media.
“In reality, he was quite angry at not having had the floor at the Renaissance congress, so he let it be known”, plague a macronist, close to the head of state. “He always has to make his difference heard. While we are having difficulties at the start of our mandate, with a relative majority. He wants to remind that he exists, ”he continues.
“It is important to speak frankly”
This is not the first time since the start of the second five-year term that François Bayrou has annoyed his peers. After the legislative slap, he swung a nice cleat at Elisabeth Borne, then weakened, demanding a “more political” Prime Minister. At the end of June, the High Commissioner for Planning opposed the inclusion of the right to abortion in the Constitution, yet defended by LREM. In recent days, in the wake of François Bayrou’s criticism of pensions, MoDem deputies have assured that they would vote against the government, in the event of an amendment to the Social Security draft budget.
“We have our political identity, strong and asserted. It’s part of a good relationship that everyone can express themselves, assures the MoDem deputy from Finistère, Erwan Balanant. When you are like François Bayrou, a kind of adviser, even a benchmark for the president, it is important to speak with candor”.
But does the mayor of Pau, recently appointed secretary general of the National Council for Refoundation (CNR), retain real influence over the choices of the executive? “Unlike 2017, where Bayrou had a decisive rallying point, Emmanuel Macron this time did not need anyone to get re-elected…”, squeaks a Renaissance elected official. On pensions, the Béarnais has partly won his standoff, since the executive has decided to open a cycle of consultations for the adoption of a bill “before the end of winter”. Erwan Balanant adds: “If François Bayrou or us at the MoDem, we sometimes annoy the walkers, it is proof that we retain a certain influence”.