The fall of François Bayrou, the story of an end deemed lacking panache

François Bayrou did not manage to hold the session as long as his role model, Pierre Mendès France. The former Prime Minister under René Coty had fought for hours at the Palais-Bourbon before being overthrown, at the end of the night of February 5-6, 1955, by a vote of confidence lost in the National Assembly. On Monday, September 8, it was barely 7 p.m. when the sanction fell on François Bayrou: by a very large majority (194 for, 364 against) , the deputies had not given him their confidence and the Prime Minister had to submit the resignation of his government.

The gamble was risky, the fight lost from the start. And the Béarnais, the first, seemed to have resigned himself to his fate. Even before the vote, François Bayrou had the opportunity to speak again in the Chamber to respond, if he wished and in an unlimited time, to the eleven group presidents who had taken the podium to support or vilify the government's actions. But the future ex-prime minister clearly no longer had enough fighting spirit and contented himself with a short conclusion, appearing, for the first time, smiling and as if freed from a burden. "These nine months have been months of profound happiness. We have shown a republican, honorable and active image," he congratulated himself while addressing his ministers in an anticipated farewell.

While the outcome of the day was little in doubt for everyone, the anticipation was still palpable at the Palais-Bourbon on Monday. The day promises to be historic: for the first time in the Fifth Republic, a government will fall after a vote of confidence. The corridors of the Palace are teeming with journalists, both French and foreign, and the Chamber is packed, both on the benches and in the galleries. The seats allocated to guests were snapped up as soon as they were made available in early September. Among them, notably, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (LFI), came to lead his troops into the National Assembly and attend François Bayrou's speech, a few seats away from Marine Tondelier, national secretary of the Ecologists.

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