PoliticsFrance's prime minister puts himself in a bad position with his choice of words
SDA
28.1.2025 - 19:18
Francois Bayrou, Prime Minister of France, delivers the government statement to the members of the National Assembly. Photo: Julien Mattia/Le Pictorium via ZUMA Press/dpa/archived image
Keystone
Following controversial statements on migration, French Prime Minister François Bayrou must fear for the necessary support of the Socialists for his minority government. The Socialists canceled a round of negotiations on the budget for the current year scheduled for the evening at the Ministry of the Economy at short notice, a party spokeswoman confirmed to the German Press Agency. The negotiations are currently suspended.
Keystone-SDA
28.01.2025, 19:18
28.01.2025, 19:19
SDA
Bayrou's center-right government does not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly. If Bayrou alienates the Socialists, he could be threatened with a fall from power in the course of the budget debate. It is still too early to say what will be done, said MP Laurent Baumel. However, if there is no movement, it is possible that the Socialists will agree to a vote of no confidence in the government.
After his government statement, Bayrou had survived an initial vote of no confidence. The Socialists tolerated his cabinet. Marine Le Pen's right-wing nationalists also did not withdraw their confidence in him for the time being. Bayrou's predecessor Michel Barnier was toppled by France's left-wing camp and the right-wing nationalists in December in the dispute over the austerity budget.
The stumbling block was Bayrou's statements about a "feeling of flooding" with regard to migration. Boris Vallaud, leader of the Socialist parliamentary group, accused the prime minister of using a term used by the far-right.