Bayrou sharply criticized the new government, arguing that there is a “constant, ongoing, progressive and increasingly serious rift between the people and power structures.”
The centrist leader, who formerly served as education minister and was thought to be a candidate to take the post once again, also expressed his disapproval of “the underlying notion that teachers don’t work hard enough.” Macron has pushed for teachers to be eligible for pay raises on the condition that they perform additional work.
The education minister post is considered to be of high importance in French politics. Attal was education minister before being appointed prime minister and vowed to keep education as one of his top priorities. At the end of last year, Macron said education was the “mother of all battles.”
Uncertain future for the pro-Macron coalition
The question now is what role Bayrou’s party, the Democratic Movement, will play in the pro-Macron coalition after what looks to be a political break up with the president.
The Democratic Movement, known as the MoDem, makes up one-fifth of the members of parliament in the pro-Macron coalition. That coalition has already struggled to govern since it lost its absolute majority in the lower house in 2022.
