“Unity is essential”, insists Borne after his meeting with Bayrou

2023-07-31 05:36:11

After Edouard Philippe in Le Havre, Elisabeth Borne went to Pau on Sunday to François Bayrou. With this tour, the Prime Minister had one objective: to garner the support of the tenors of the majority with a view to a return to parliament which promises to be difficult.

The head of government, who has made gender equality a priority, attended the arrival of the Tour de France Women in the capital of Béarn. “It’s essential to raise awareness, to highlight these women’s competitions,” she said after presenting the trophy to Dutchwoman Demi Vollering, who won the Grande Boucle. “Women’s sport (…) is a lot of inspiration for young girls, for young women. It is also a way of professional integration, ”she added before going to the town hall and talking for an hour with the mayor of Pau François Bayrou.

“Hold on” heard in the crowd

During her successive meetings with the bosses of MoDem and Horizons, the Prime Minister carried out “a review of the year, the progress and the way in which we functioned”, she confided on Sunday evening. “Unity is essential, and even more so in a context of relative majority. We must be vigilant to preserve it, ”she said.

Confirmed in her post last week, the Prime Minister therefore wants to close ranks behind her. It must be said that the fall is likely to be sporty in Parliament, with a very sensitive bill on immigration and budgetary texts for which Elisabeth Borne will have to resort again to 49.3. “Hold on”, several people have also launched in the crowd in Pau.

The tour of the head of government, who must also speak on the telephone this Monday with the president of Renaissance Stéphane Séjourné, also has a scent of “emancipation” for the Prime Minister. She “resumes her usual role as leader of the majority” that Emmanuel Macron has assumed for several years, analyzes political historian Jean Garrigues. But ensuring the loyalty of François Bayrou and Edouard Philippe does not solve the problem of the relative majority, of which “the key to the solution lies more on the right”, he adds. Elisabeth Borne also exchanged Thursday with the president of LR Eric Ciotti, according to the latter.