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France has a new Prime Minister

by Anja Czymmeck, Max Fricke, Nele Katharina Wissmann

Political instability despite new appointment

On 13 December, Emmanuel Macron appointed the leader of the Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem), a loyal ally of the Macron governments, as the new prime minister. According to Le Monde, Macron had initially offered Bayrou the position of deputy in a government led by Roland Lescure of Macron's Renaissance party on Friday morning. François Bayrou declined and probably threatened to leave the president's coalition. Faced with the possibility of a deadlock and a break with an important ally, Emmanuel Macron finally changed his mind and decided in favour of appointing François Bayrou. He is the sixth prime minister under Emmanuel Macron's presidency. The new prime minister now has the task of appointing a government that, according to Emmanuel Macron, ‘is willing to commit to a period of thirty months and not to dissolve the National Assembly during this time’.
December 13, 2024 Ordering Information

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The challenges for the new prime minister

The new Prime Minister 
Three-time presidential candidate François Bayrou becomes Prime Minister at the age of 73. From 1993 to 1997, he was Minister of Education in the Balladur and Juppé governments. Always a centrist politician, he has been leader of the MoDem party since 2007. Bayrou was a candidate in three consecutive presidential elections in 2002, 2007 and 2012. In 2007, he came third with 18.6% of the votes cast. In the 2017 presidential election, he supported Emmanuel Macron and was subsequently appointed Minister of Justice. He resigned from this post after a month due to the bogus employment scandal involving the parliamentary assistants of the Mouvement Démocrate in the European Parliament. Due to a lack of evidence, he was acquitted in the affair in February 2024, while other party members, including former Justice Minister Michel Mercier, were sentenced to 18 months' probation for embezzling public funds, 

20,000 fine and two years of ineligibility on probation. In September 2020, Bayrou was appointed High Commissioner for Planning and Foresight by Emmanuel Macron. This position is tasked with guiding national decisions with regard to demographic, economic, social, environmental, health, technological and cultural challenges. The leader of the Mouvement Démocrate is a loyal but also demanding ally of Emmanuel Macron, who will now have to use his political experience and talent as a mediator to deal with a fragmented National Assembly.

The full-length publication is only available in german.

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Anja Czymmeck

Anja Czymmeck

Head of the France Office

anja.czymmeck@kas.de +33 156 69 15 00

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