Thomas Samson / AFP
Gabriel Attal (2ndd), Francois Bayrou (R), Edouard Philippe (2ndg) and the president of the UDI Hervé Marseille (G) at the Renaissance meeting on April 6, 2025.
POLICY – “The government has no majority, it even happens that its supporters are not completely convinced. (…) He knows perfectly well that he is at the mercy of the oppositions, as much as, here and there, the doubts of his supporters. »» It is almost an understatement that François Bayrou by presenting his budget plan for 2026. Faced with oppositions which immediately brandished the threat of censorship, the common foundation supposed to support his politics drags his feet to help him.
On July 15 at the start of the evening, there were hardly only the elected officials of the Modem, who left François Bayrou, to display frank support in a press release, on social networks as well as in the media. For Renaissance, Republicans and Horizons, you will have to wait 24 hours to obtain official reactions. Which reveal their “Doubt” To quote the Prime Minister, only a real support.
Admittedly, on the morning of July 16, the ministers of all stripes provided after-sales service. Gérald Darmanin defended the abolition of public holidays … while considering that it was not a priority measure and before implying that this track was hardly different from the end of the 35 hours which himself advocated. “The Prime Minister has his words”,, for example, let go of the Keeper of the Seals Gérald Darmanin. We knew him more united in defense.
Minimum after-sales service
But it was almost laudatory, in the light of the reactions of Edouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal. The mayor of Le Havre and president of Horizons is the first to go out – brutally – of silence. In an interview with Parisianhe loads: “Almost nothing in what he proposes solves the problem. It just helps limit the consequences ”. The white year? A temporary misery cache, he believes in substance. Easter Monday and May 8? He prefers to line up without saying it about Gérald Darmanin’s position. His distant successor to Matignon is less offensive but just as unpaid. At the end of the day, Gabriel Attal publishes a long message on X in which he evokes only one of the tracks of François Bayrou: the reform of unemployment insurance … which he himself defended body and soul before being blocked by dissolution.
Among the Republicans, who nevertheless proud of five ministerial portfolios, the tone is just as temperate (the measure on public holidays, for example, is swept by Bruno Retailleau for whom “You have to do it differently” ) But free from frontal criticism. In Le Figaro Three days after the presentation of the plan, the president of the party and Minister of the Interior goes so far as to resume the comparison of François Bayrou with Greece. “The two directions that the Prime Minister wanted to take are the right ones: a brake on expenses and an accelerator on production”, he validates. Bruno Retailleau as the boss of the deputies LR Laurent Wauquiez are satisfied with the “Alarm signal” Pulled by François Bayrou on debt – a shared opinion as much by Edouard Philippe as Gabriel Attal.
See 2027 at his door
To better serve their personal or rather presidential interests? “When you are a presidential political figure and you approach the presidential elections, you have solutions to everything but none of those proposed by others can be the right one”, summarizes HuffPost “No surprise but a little disappointed”the MP MoDem Erwan Balanant. While François Bayrou repeats the envy that all external contributions are welcome, his allies on paper intend to take advantage of it. The Republicans rushed on “ blindness »Migration, while denouncing the “Double penalty” For retirees. Horizons and Renaissance have not made this time of specific proposals, but the two promise to participate in the debates for “Specify or correct” The proposals, dixit Gabriel Attal.
This strategy has multiple interests. First of all, it allows the three camps to distinguish themselves from those who “Refuse (nt) all in block »(Gabriel Attal), whom the Republicans call the “Cartel of denial” : the national rally and rebellious France. And play the card of the ” responsibility “. Witness the very first reaction of Bruno Retailleau to budgetary announcements: “A government party cannot be discarded.”
Above all, sharing the observation while being doubtful on the solutions allows all his stables to advance their pawns for 2027. Edouard Philippe, declared candidate, is not hiding when he promises that his troops will participate in the debates for “Try to make our three pillars prevail”, namely “Work more, spend less and tax less. »» The LR proposals have been in line with all the right -wing presidential programs for a decade. As for Gabriel Attal, it is probably not without ulterior motive that he stressed that“In 2024, for the first time in 15 years, the state spent less than the previous year. »» The year that saw him settle in Matignon from January to September.
The summer break will allow everyone to refine their proposals. Go to the fall to hear the alternative solutions for each other and above all, see the fate reserved for them. On this examination, the survival of the central block will be partially dependent, which even with one of its members, is not “Not really a block” et “Not really central”.
