It was supposed to be the pinnacle of his long political career. With France in the throes of an unprecedented crisis since the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale last summer and subsequent ousting of Michel Barnier's government, Prime Minister François Bayrou's government policy statement on Tuesday, January 14, had been eagerly awaited. It was expected to finally help blaze a "way forward" with the left, in order to extract the minority government from its prior dependence on the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party and free the country from instability. It was to be a "presidential" speech, exclaimed Richard Ramos, an MP from Bayrou's centrist MoDem party, a few minutes before the start of the parliamentary session.

Unfortunately for him, the premier's words have thrown the Socialists, Greens and Communists into disarray. Socialist leader Olivier Faure, who, on Tuesday morning, had said he was very close to reaching an agreement with the government, has since brandished the threat of voting to topple the government. Meanwhile, the other left-wing parties ended up signing the no-confidence motion introduced by the La France Insoumise (LFI, radical left) party, which will be debated on Thursday, January 16.

You have 83.39% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.