Francois Bayrou, Macron's Ally, Appointed as New Prime Minister of France

Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, has appointed Francois Bayrou, a veteran politician and moderate ally, as the fourth Prime Minister of France in 2024. Mr. Bayrou, who was appointed on Friday, December 23, will primarily be tasked with passing a special law to align the budget for 2024, while a tougher battle over the approval of the 2025 budget looms early next year. The budget dispute led to the downfall of the previous French government under Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The 73-year-old Francois Bayrou is expected to introduce his list of ministers in the coming days, but he is anticipated to face the same issues that Barnier's government encountered with a parliament composed of three opposing factions. His closeness to the President, who has little popularity, may also become a weakness for him. Macron stated that he will introduce the new Prime Minister in the coming days. Reactions to Bayrou's appointment from the far-right camp, led by the National Rally (RN) party, indicated that they currently do not intend to present an immediate vote of no confidence in parliament. Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, leaders of this party, both emphasized that Francois Bayrou must pay attention to the opponents' views regarding the budget. On the other hand, Fabien Roussel, leader of the Communist Party, announced that he would not act against Mr. Bayrou as long as he does not pass laws without considering the opponents. However, the reaction from the far-left in France to this appointment was different; leaders of the 'Unsubmissive France' party declared that they would seek to remove the new Prime Minister. Marine Tondelier, leader of the Greens, also stated that she would support a vote of no confidence if the concerns of her party regarding taxes and pensions are ignored. After the dismissal of Mr. Barnier, Macron spent recent days negotiating with leaders from various factions, from conservatives to communists, to garner support for the new Prime Minister, while far-right and far-left parties were excluded from these negotiations. The Republicans, who supported the previous government, and the Socialist Party have yet to issue an official response to this appointment. The French President hopes that Francois Bayrou can survive a vote of no confidence at least until early next summer, when new parliamentary elections may be held. However, if his government also falls, Emmanuel Macron's political future will be severely questioned. Mr. Bayrou, who is the founder of the centrist 'Democratic Movement' (MoDem) party and has been part of Macron's ruling coalition since 2017, has run for the presidency three times. Macron appointed Bayrou as Minister of Justice in 2017, but he resigned just a few weeks later due to investigations into the financial misuse of his party's parliamentary staff; investigations from which the new Prime Minister of France was acquitted of fraud charges.