France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou’s surprise gambit to hold a confidence vote on September 8th has raised fears that France risks entering a period of prolonged political and financial instability. Should Bayrou lose the vote, he must resign along with his entire government.
Bayrou told TF1 television in an interview on Wednesday, August 27th, that he “did not believe” dissolving the National Assembly and calling snap elections “would allow us to have stability.” “The economic situation is worsening every year in an intolerable way,” he added, warning that the young will be the victims “if we create chaos.”
Bayrou told TF1 he is ready to “open all necessary negotiations” with the opposition on the budget, but “the prerequisite is that we agree on the importance of the effort” on the savings to be made. “There are 12 days left (to the confidence vote), and 12 days is a very, very long time to talk,” he said. “And if we agree on the seriousness, on the urgency of things, then we open negotiations.”
Bayrou is due to host heads of political parties from Monday for last-ditch talks over the budget, which foresees some €43.8 billion ($51 billion) of cost-savings rejected by the opposition.
With both the populist right- and lradical eft-wing parties vowing not to back the government, analysts say that Bayrou has mathematically little chance of surviving without a major political turnaround. Macron on Wednesday nevertheless gave his “full support” to Bayrou, according to government spokeswoman Sophie Primas.
