The Socialist Party still determined to censor François Bayrou after his announcements on pensions

Socialist MPs maintain their intention to vote for the censure of Prime Minister François Bayrou , despite his announcements on pensions, the MP and spokesperson for the Socialist Party group in the National Assembly, Arthur Delaporte, told the press on Thursday.

The Prime Minister "does not in any way contradict our wish to censure him," declared Arthur Delaporte, denouncing an "attempt to cover up" by François Bayrou, whom he accused of seeking to "buy time" by having committed to bringing the matter before Parliament in the autumn.

"He said there would be no return to Parliament on a specific pension bill. That was his initial commitment," Arthur Delaporte added.

A few minutes earlier, during a press conference, François Bayrou had listed "progress" made by the social partners on the pension issue . The mayor of Pau notably announced "a legislative approach" in the autumn to "answer all the questions raised" and, in the absence of agreement on the most delicate points, said he was ready to integrate "compromise provisions" into the next Social Security budget.

Asked about the motion of censure that the Socialist Party has tabled and which will be examined next week, François Bayrou ironically cited the party's historical references to the rose.

He had thus declared that he "could not imagine that the party of Jacques Delors and Michel Rocard could consider" that the compromises reached by the social partners at the end of the conclave on pensions were "an object of censorship".

The Socialists "needed to show opposition for internal reasons that I can understand," the Prime Minister added. The Socialists had drawn the ire of their former allies in La France Insoumise by refusing to vote on the latest motions of censure targeting François Bayrou.

In the morning, after the Socialist Party announced it had tabled its motion of censure—signed by all of the group's deputies—LFI said it deplored the "sectarianism" of the Socialists, who chose to table their motion alone. Even if it is voted on by the entire left, this motion has, a priori, no chance of being adopted since the National Rally is not expected to vote for it.