France’s newly appointed Prime Minister François Bayrou is under fire for skipping an emergency meeting on the Mayotte crisis in Paris to attend a local council session in Pau, where he’s served as mayor for a decade. While Bayrou’s team insisted he’d join the national crisis talks via videoconference, his decision provoked swift backlash from the opposition.
Clémence Guetté of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party didn’t mince words, declaring, “The Prime Minister will only attend the crisis meeting on Mayotte remotely. Why? Because he’s flying to Pau to fulfil his duties as mayor. The French people deserve better than an illegitimate part-time Prime Minister.”
Socialist MP Arthur Delaporte piled on, calling Bayrou’s choice “disgraceful and disrespectful.” He criticized Bayrou’s priorities, saying, “At a time when Mayotte is going through one of its worst tragedies, and when the Prime Minister also has to form a government, his priority is to attend its municipal council.”
Bayrou’s move stands out. Unlike his predecessors—Édouard Philippe, Jean Castex, and Jean-Marc Ayrault—who all relinquished their mayoral positions upon becoming prime minister, Bayrou seems intent on keeping both roles. While the French Constitution allows such dual mandates, critics argue it compromises his focus on national leadership, especially during crises.
The outrage comes as Mayotte grapples with the catastrophic aftermath of Cyclone Chido. The storm, which struck on December 14, unleashed winds exceeding 200 kph, leaving destruction in its wake. Meteo France reported it as the most powerful cyclone to hit Mayotte in nearly a century.
Local officials fear the death toll will be staggering. “I believe there will certainly be hundreds, perhaps even a thousand or more deaths,” said Mayotte’s prefect François-Xavier Bieuville in an interview with Mayotte La 1ère on December 15.
