LIVE - Government falls: François Bayrou to resign to Emmanuel Macron, Braun-Pivet does not close the door on Matignon

"We have no responsibility for the country's economic, social and security situation. These are the consequences of eight years of Macron's rule," insisted MP Sébastien Chenu on France Inter.

The elected representative from the North called for a dissolution. "One might wonder why Macron is so stubborn," castigated Sébastien Chenu. And the former RN vice-president of the National Assembly continued: "Why does giving the French people back their say scare him? We have to understand that people want to return to balance. Dissolution seems to us to be in the country's interest ."

The MP also spoke about the September 10 movement, which calls for a country blockade. While Sébastien Chenu said he understood their anger, "I'm not sure the goal is to block the country," he added.

The Paris Stock Exchange is expected to open lower on Tuesday after the National Assembly unsurprisingly ousted Prime Minister François Bayrou , who failed to gain the confidence of MPs.

The futures contract on the leading CAC 40 index was down 0.19% about forty minutes before the opening of the session (at 9 a.m. Paris time). On Monday, the CAC 40 gained 60.06 points (+0.78%) to close at 7,734.84 points. "European markets are expected to open slightly lower this morning, worried, but not panicked, by the fall of the French government," comments John Plassard in a note seen by AFP.

"The budgetary situation that Bayrou leaves behind is critical: a deficit of 5.4% of GDP, a debt that is increasing by 5,000 euros per second, and an interest burden that is expected to reach 75 billion euros in 2026," explains John Plassard. The appointment of a successor is expected quickly, but "for the markets, it is budgetary visibility that counts," he continues.

However, "the difficulty in finding a compromise in the current configuration of the National Assembly should thus lead to a more or less renewal of the old budget, resulting in only a very modest improvement in the public deficit," estimates the Edmond de Rothschild bank in a note.

"Investors could, however, choose to look at the glass half full and welcome the absence of any additional slippage in budgetary balances," but France would only be "postponing once again the delicate subject of public finances, which will return to the forefront next year, pending real clarification no later than 2027," the bank continued.

In this context, France faces a delicate agenda, with the update of its credit quality rating by the Fitch Ratings agency on Friday.

Fitch's latest rating revision was on March 14, maintaining France's sovereign rating at "AA-." While France escaped a rating downgrade at that time, the agency maintained the negative outlook it had assigned to the country on October 11, 2024.

"The agencies are sanctioning three weaknesses: excessive debt, sluggish growth, and political instability. (...) A downgrade is now likely," comments John Plassard. According to Fitch's rating scale, the AA- rating is the last notch of a "high-quality" rating, before moving to the "upper-medium quality" category. The rating agency Moody's will follow on October 24, before S&P on November 28.

"For me, there is no solution that would be politically motivated. We are almost in a situation of regime crisis, to cut the Gordian knot, we must return to the people. It is dissolution or resignation of the president," explained Éric Ciotti , president of the Union of the Right for the Republic, on Sud Radio.

"The trend is to appeal to the left, to convince the Socialist Party when the country has never been so right-wing," laments Éric Ciotti. "The union of the right is not working for the moment, but it is progressing!" he claimed. "I wanted this alliance with the National Rally because the right will no longer be able to win without unity."

Who will pull us out of this spiral of worry and weariness? François Bayrou delivered his speech, which he intended to be historic, to the polite indifference of the deputies. For ten days, on all screens, he has been raging like Philippulus, the prophet of doom from The Mysterious Star , but who listens to a notable who has been at the heart of the regime for forty years when he discovers that everything must change?

The French have long since stopped turning on the volume. They've already turned the page. The successor to Matignon? The choice of Tartemuche over Tartempion or Tartemolle barely occupies the conversation; here too, fatigue outweighs excitement. The game is still taking place in a restricted political space, less and less representative and more and more caricatured.

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"We must claim power and make sure that this possibility exists," explained Olivier Faure , refusing to speculate on a possible censure of the Socialist Party in the event of the appointment of a prime minister from the Macronist ranks. "I understand that the French want to send a message to the heads of state," he added regarding tomorrow's demonstrations. "I don't want those who demonstrate to give the impression that they prefer chaos."

"I am not a candidate at all (...) On the other hand, I am available to work in the interest of my country. That is all that interests me in the position that is required," declared the President of the National Assembly on RTL, who said she was "obviously" ready to leave the chamber if the President of the Republic appointed her to Matignon as Prime Minister.

"The idea is not to proclaim ourselves the majority, we are not. [...] We must acknowledge this minority and respect the balances in Parliament decided by the French people last year," explained Olivier Faure , first secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) on France Inter this morning.

"A year ago, Jean-Luc Mélenchon's own group accepted the compromise with the Macronists. We must seek agreements to keep the country running," he added. "Last August, Lucie Castets wrote on behalf of the NFP: we don't have a majority, we will have to have compromises text by text, I'm not saying anything else," explained Olivier Faure in response to Jean-Luc Mélenchon 's criticism.

The EPR president of the National Assembly said she "regretted" the fall of François Bayrou's government . "We now have to face the issue of debt, the budgetary issue. Nothing has been resolved today, so obviously we can only deplore it," she added on RTL.

"The French are right to be a little desperate, to be distressed by the spectacle that the political class offers them (...) I am convinced that dissolution will solve absolutely nothing. I am obviously opposed to it. It is up to us to be responsible for offering prospects to the French."

This is a first in the tumultuous history of the ^Fifth Republic. Prime Minister François Bayrou failed to gain the confidence of the National Assembly. 364 deputies voted against, 194 in favor, and 15 abstained during the vote held at the National Assembly following the Prime Minister's declaration of his savings plan for public finances.

As in December, during the censure of Michel Barnier , the left and the National Rally have, unsurprisingly, united their voices in order to bring down the executive. More surprising remains the choice of a few elected members of the Republicans, who did not support a government in which they had no fewer than seven ministerial portfolios.

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"The French government is collapsing, once again," headlines the New York Times at the start of its website. A biting "once again," and yet, it is the sentiment dominating the international press this Tuesday morning: weariness in the face of a France that seems to be sinking into an endless political crisis.

For the New York Times , France is now "reduced to chronic political instability and unable to cope with its growing financial crisis." The New York daily, which places the information at the top of its site, emphasizes the word "paralysis" and underlines the repetitive dimension of these repeated government crises. It even goes so far as to quote political scientist Alain Duhamel who compares the current situation to 1958. He analyzed this Monday in the columns of Le Monde : "But in 1958, there was an alternative in the person of De Gaulle. Whether you love him or hate him, he undeniably had a plan." The Wall Street Journal takes the same view and speaks of a "political and fiscal chaos" that is worsening.

Among our German neighbors, the same disillusionment. The Süddeutsche Zeitung speaks of a "major blockage" and also notes that Macron will have to appoint "a fifth Prime Minister in just two years, a first in the current Fifth Republic." The Munich daily notes ironically that "the conciliator has not lived up to expectations" and that Bayrou "has never tried to negotiate with the opposition."

In Italy, Corriere della Sera questions the vote of confidence initiated by François Bayrou. "Perhaps, when he announced this decision on August 25, he already knew he was going to lose and sacrificed himself out of national pride; perhaps he simply miscalculated, counting on the support of Marine Le Pen and the Socialists, whom he immediately lost," the Milanese daily speculates. And if the "truth test" desired by François Bayrou is a failure, it could also resemble a launching pad. "He is leaving the stage, at least for now, perhaps to give himself a head start and present his own improbable candidacy in the next presidential elections," speculates correspondent Stefano Montefiori.

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The day after his fall, François Bayrou , who massively lost his bet on Monday, September 8, to gain the confidence of the National Assembly, must submit his resignation on Tuesday morning to the President of the Republic, who has already "taken note" of it .

He will then deal with current affairs while awaiting the appointment of a successor, the fifth prime minister since the start of the five-year term in 2022, something never seen before in a Fifth Republic long renowned for its political stability but which has entered an unprecedented crisis since the dissolution of June 2024.

Staring into space, head bowed, François Bayrou slowly leaves the hemicycle of the National Assembly . Around him, several of his ministers follow him, Annie Genevard (Agriculture) and Sophie Primas (Spokesperson), with closed faces, while a stone's throw away, the Insoumis, beaming smiles slung over their shoulders, already seem to be planning what comes next.

Shortly before 7 p.m. this Monday, unsurprisingly, the Prime Minister, who had sought the confidence of the deputies by invoking Article 49.1 of the Constitution, did not obtain it. Quite the opposite. 364 parliamentarians in the Palais Bourbon voted against, only 194 in favor. A true disavowal, yet predictable. François Bayrou and his government fell, forced to resign by this unfavorable vote in the National Assembly. A first in the history of the ^Fifth Republic.

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The head of state "will appoint a new prime minister in the next few days," the Élysée Palace announced in a statement on Monday. As early as today? "That's one of the possibilities," as was a presidential statement the same day, his entourage said, without certainty.

This would allow him not to be alone at the head of the State on Wednesday in the face of the "Block everything" protest movement , born on social networks and supported by the left, which will precede the union mobilization of September 18, with in between the two the decision on Friday of the Fitch agency which could downgrade the rating of French debt and cause turbulence on the financial markets.

Failing that, reports a regular contact of Emmanuel Macron, a prime minister could be appointed by the end of the week, so as to have a full government when the head of state flies to New York where he is due to recognize the State of Palestine at the UN on September 22-23.

According to the reasoning of the Elysée strategists, this time, the head of state should not engage in "formal consultations" , whereas he received the political parties in turn before appointing Michel Barnier a year ago, and organized a round table of several party leaders before choosing François Bayrou in December.

Hello everyone, and welcome to this live broadcast devoted to the fall of François Bayrou's government , which fell yesterday following the refusal of the deputies to grant him confidence.

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