Vote of confidence: Bayrou dissolves himself

Editorial by Alexandra Schwartzbrod

Asking MPs to decide on the budget and its future on September 8, the unpopular Prime Minister justified his austerity plan on Monday in an effort to consolidate his position. The opposition has already condemned him.

François Bayrou's press conference, during his press conference this Monday. (Denis Allard/Libération)

by Alexandra Schwartzbrod

Listening to François Bayrou this Monday, one thing became clear: paid leave was not invented for nothing, it allows people to rest and return to work with a minimum of energy and optimism. The Prime Minister has proclaimed in recent months that he would spend a "studious summer" at Matignon and this was felt when, in a sepulchral voice and a pale face, he unfolded on this August 25 an apocalyptic picture of the situation in the world ( "the planet is not turning well" ), in Europe ( "Europe is not turning well either" ) and especially in France, a country in a state of "vital emergency" . That the planet is not turning well is an understatement. That the country is in a state of vital emergency, in the same situation or almost as Greece in 2008 (which Antoine Armand, the then Finance Minister, denied in November), is the ultimate means found by the Béarnais to make the French understand that the situation is serious, that they have benefited enough from public funds ( "the debt was first spent to protect our fellow citizens, the debt is each one of us" ) and... that he must be consolidated in his position because, basically, it would be him and his austerity program or chaos.

Given his popularity rating and the scale of the social movements brewing , it's all over for François Bayrou, who has decided to go all in and request a vote of confidence on September 8. Whether suicidal or courageous, there is undoubtedly a bit of both in this announcement which, after a brief moment of shock, was taken at face value by all the opposition parties who assured that they would not vote for confidence . So does François Bayrou still have the slightest chance of saving his job? In politics, anything is possible. He has two weeks left to capitalize on the dramatization effect used on Monday and to convince people that "everyone will participate in the effort, including the most privileged," as he specified, aware that this is the major weak point of his program. The countdown has begun.

François Bayrou 2026 Budget