French far right, hard left reject compromise deal to save PM

PARIS (AFP) — France’s far-right and hard-left parties on Thursday rejected a compromise with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou over his government’s cost-cutting budget, saying it was “too late” to make a deal.

Bayrou, who made fresh overtures to both sides on Thursday, has staked his political survival on a confidence vote he called for Sept. 8, following months of deadlock over the government’s plans to slash France’s mounting public debt.

But with the far-right and left-wing parties pledging not to back him, his premiership appears doomed, only months after he took office in December.

“Too late. Mr. Prime Minister, you have missed many opportunities to construct a budget that benefits the French people,” the far-right National Rally’s deputy leader Sebastien Chenu told TF1 television. “The page has been turned. Dialogue is in the past.”

Bayrou’s surprise gamble has raised fears that France risks a new period of prolonged political and financial instability.

President Emmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to 74-year-old Bayrou, who plans to host party leaders for talks from Monday.

Bayrou said he was ready to start negotiations on the condition that parties commit to savings measures to reduce the debt pile.

On Thursday, he made a new effort to win over the opposition.

“I am certain that anything can happen in the next 11 days,” he told reporters at the Roland-Garros stadium complex, after addressing business leaders.

‘In the same boat’

Bayrou wants to save about 44 billion euros ($51 billion), but his proposal to slash two public holidays and place a freeze on spending increases has angered many in France.

Addressing the Medef employer federation, Bayrou said he was open to proposals and urged the French to think about the future.

“The question is not who will steer the ship and who will be thrown overboard,” he said. “The question is whether the ship will be able to weather the stormy seas and reach its destination safely, and we are all in the same boat.”

But many in the opposition say it’s too little too late.

On Wednesday evening, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella reiterated his party’s call for Macron to dissolve Parliament or resign.

He said on X that while party leaders will attend talks with Bayrou next week, he added that any such dialogue would be “futile and extremely late.”

The hard-left France Unbowed, or LFI, party said it would snub next week’s negotiations.

“France Unbowed has already tabled eight motions of no confidence against the government this year,” LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard said on X. “We therefore have no intention of participating in the rescue operation that the prime minister is now attempting to initiate.”

The Greens are also expected to boycott the talks.

‘I don’t believe in crisis’

Should Bayrou lose the vote, he must resign along with his entire government.

Macron could then reappoint him, choose a new figure to become the president’s seventh prime minister since he took office in 2017, or call early elections to break the political deadlock that has now dogged France for more than a year.

But Bayrou has warned that snap elections would not help restore stability after the last vote in summer 2024 left the National Rally, known by its French initials RN, as the largest single party in Parliament.

The government insists that despite everything France’s economy is resilient, and Economy Minister Eric Lombard downplayed the country’s woes on Thursday.

“I do not believe in a financial crisis,” he said. “I’m going to surprise you, but I am convinced that we will have a budget for 2026, and on time.”

“We have no difficulty in financing our economy,” he said, adding the public deficit would be reduced to 5.4% of gross domestic product by the end of the year.

After years of overspending, France is on notice to control its public deficit and cut its sprawling debt, as required under EU rules.

Many in France have been unhappy with the current political impasse, as well as with other problems including the rising cost of living and crime.

A broad anti-government campaign dubbed “Bloquons tout” (“Let’s block everything”), backed by the left, has urged the French to stage a nationwide shutdown on Sept. 10.

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By STUART WILLIAMS and ODILE DUPERRY, Agence France-Presse