Proportional: François Bayrou believes there is "a majority" and promises a text for the end of the year

"There is a majority for proportional representation in the National Assembly" but "within the common core there are different sensitivities" and "so I will present this text after we have had the budgetary work" , either "at the end of this year" or at the beginning of 2026, affirmed the Prime Minister in the Grand Jury program on RTL/PublicSénat/LeFigaro. He said he had "confidence in his teaching abilities" to convince.

On April 30, François Bayrou began a series of consultations with political forces on the proportional election of deputies.

The Prime Minister is defending full proportional representation by department as in 1986, whereas since the establishment of the Fifth Republic (with the exception of the legislative elections of that year), deputies have been elected by two-round majority vote.

The RN, which is in favour of proportional representation with a majority bonus, has indicated that it could accommodate the 1986 model.

On the right, Les Républicains (The Republicans) are strongly opposed. Their president, Bruno Retailleau, who is also Minister of the Interior and therefore in charge of organizing the elections, had said he would refuse to "carry" such a reform. He reiterated on BFMTV on Sunday that it would make the "mess" in the National Assembly "structural ."

The presidential camp is divided. MoDem is in favor, Horizons is opposed, and Renaissance will be polling its supporters throughout the summer, before a vote in September.

On the pension issue, François Bayrou reiterated that the social partners' meeting, which ended with a finding of disagreement, was "not at all" a failure because the unions and employers were "on the verge of reaching an agreement."

François Bayrou downplayed the motion of censure tabled by the Socialists, which will be debated Tuesday but which the National Rally is not expected to vote on. He said it aims to "show that they are in opposition."

The Prime Minister promised to present his major plan to restore public finances on July 15, 16, or 17, and warned against "division," "the surest way to go down together." "We will get there together, or we will go down together."

Socialist Party First Secretary Olivier Faure warned on LCI on Sunday that he would "no longer show any leniency" towards the Prime Minister and would take a very firm position during the budget debate in the autumn.

"Dissolution is necessary as soon as possible," warned RN vice-president Sébastien Chenu on Europe1/CNews/LesEchos. "The government's turn to be censored will come," and "probably sooner than you think," he said.