Emmanuel Macron’s message was clear and his tone was combative. The goal was to ward off the deadlock threatening the government. At the weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday, September 3, the French president called on members of the government and their supporters to « mobilize » and « explain » ahead of the confidence vote on Monday, September 8, which could bring down Prime Minister François Bayrou.
After going months without summoning the leaders of the centrist bloc, Macron gathered Edouard Philippe of center-right Horizons, Gabriel Attal of Macron’s Renaissance party and Bayrou himself of the centrist MoDem party to the presidential palace for an impromptu lunch on Tuesday. He hammered home the need for unity in the face of the political and budgetary crisis threatening France and urged them to seek solutions in partnership with the Socialists. For the first time, he also included Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, president of right-wing Les Républicains (LR), with whom Macron’s camp formed a government alliance a year ago – an alliance the president wants to maintain.
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