François Bayrou

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François Bayrou
François Bayrou
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1998
Preceded by François Léotard
In office
1993 – 1997
Preceded by Jack Lang
Succeeded by Claude Allègre
Born May 25, 1951
Bordères
Political party UDF
Occupation politician
Website www.bayrou.fr
France

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François Bayrou (IPA: [fʁã.swa·baj.ʁu]) is a French politician, president of Union for French Democracy since 1998, and a leading candidate in the 2007 French presidential election.[1] A former Member of the European Parliament, he also served as Minister of National Education in the conservative governments of Édouard Balladur and Alain Juppé, from 1993 to 1997.

Contents

[edit] Life and family

François Bayrou was born on May 25, 1951, in Bordères, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a village between Pau and Lourdes. He is the eldest son of farmers Calixte Bayrou and Emma Sarthou.

François Bayrou has six children from his first and only marriage (his wife was 19 years old at the time of marriage). As of early 2007, the family still lives on the farm in the birth village of Bayrou. Bayrou studied literature at university, and at the age of 23, sat the "agrégation", the highest qualifying level for teachers in senior high schools and universities in France. His father was killed in a tractor accident at this time.

François Bayrou's hobby is raising horses. He is also author of over a dozen books on politics and history[1], one of which on King Henry IV of France. A practising Roman Catholic, he is a fervent supporter of France's system of laïcité.

[edit] Political career

François Bayrou rejected the complete merger of the UDF and the RPR to form the UMP. As a consequence, much of the UDF left for the UMP, while the remainder stayed with Bayrou inside UDF. However, UMP governments under Prime Ministers Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Dominique de Villepin have included one UDF minister, Gilles de Robien, an opponent of Bayrou.

François Bayrou has been increasingly critical of the course taken by the UMP-led government, which he deems to be out of touch with the average Frenchman. He denounces the de facto two-party system, in which the Socialist Party and the RPR (later UMP) have alternated and, if in the majority, have voted for the laws proposed by the executive. Instead he advocates a system where other voices can be heard. [2]

This position, though apparently popular with UDF party activists, is not necessarily well received by other UDF politicians. For instance, the only remaining UDF minister, Gilles de Robien, favors closer alignment with UMP. [3] [4]

On May 16, 2006, François Bayrou voted for a motion of no confidence sponsored by Socialist deputies calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's government following the Clearstream affair. [5] (As de Villepin's UMP has an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the motion failed.) Following Bayrou's support for this measure, France's television authority classified him as a member of the parliamentary opposition for timing purposes; however, after Bayrou protested, he was classified as a member of neither the majority nor the opposition.

[edit] Presidental Election of 2007

M. Bayrou was eliminated in the first round of the 2002 Presidental elections with a fourth place showing of 6.84%

In 2007, he decided to try again and as of early March is polling in third place behind front-runners Nicolas Sarkozy of the UMP party and Segolene Royal of the Parti Socialiste.

The possibility of a Bayrou presidency has taken the French establishment by surprise, which had been expecting the battle to be fought primarily between Sarkozy and Royal, both very personable and media-friendly. The rise of Bayrou's poll numbers in February, however, has complicated this "Sarko-Sego" scenario, and raises the distinct possibility that the Parti Socialiste candidate will be excluded from the second round for a second straight election cycle, following the humiliating defeat of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in 2002 at the hands of right wing nationalist Jean Marie Le Pen.

As the French Presidential Elections of 2007 unfolds, the opinion polls are giving Francois Bayrou as the "third man", behind Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy. However, given the unreliability of opinion polls, on the second turn on 7th May, all scenari may happen between the four major candidates. Also, opinion polls have been denouced as flawed by the weekly newspaper, Le Canard Enchaine, which detailed how raw numbers where arranged according to vote memory (results and remembrace of previous elections).

As a candidate for President, Bayrou has declared himself in favor of France taking a greater role in the European Union's affairs. He supports the ratification of the European Constitution in a more concise and readable form than the one voted down by the French electorate in 2005.[2]

[edit] Endorsements

[edit] Political views

François Bayrou has taken a strong stand on a variety of issues, including efforts to safeguard the credibility of the political process, personal freedom, and free software (see DADVSI). As French Presidential candidate he has described the EU as “the most beautiful construction of all humanity” (WSJ, 23 February 2007).

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Call for Olympic boycott

He draws home and worldwide criticism about his call for the boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics by France. During a rally in Paris, on March 21, he declares publicly : If this drama does not stop, France would do itself credit by not coming to the Olympic Games, criticising China's opposition to sanctions against Sudan over its involvement in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. France has never boycotted any Olympics so far. [6]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,2037076,00.html
  2. ^ François Bayrou: "L'Europe, c'est pas fait pour être mini". Euronews.
  3. ^ a b "A junior minister snubs Sarkozy and endorses centrist", International Herald Tribune, 2007-03-13.

[edit] Bibliography

(Bayrou himself is the author unless others are shown.)

  • (1990) La Décennie des mal-appris. [Paris]: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-066472-7. , subject(s): Enseignement -- Réforme -- France -- 1970-, Éducation et État -- France -- 1970-.
  • (1994) Le roi libre. [Paris]: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-066821-8.  le Grand livre du mois 1994, subject(s): Henri IV (roi de France ; 1553-1610 ) -- Biographies, France -- 1589-1610 (Henri IV).
  • Letamendia, Pierre (1995). Le Mouvement républicain populaire : le MRP : histoire d'un grand parti français. Paris: Beauchesne. ISBN 2-7010-1327-5. , preface by François Bayrou.
  • (1996) Le droit au sens. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-067204-5. , le Grand livre du mois 1996, subject(s): Politique et éducation -- France -- 1990-, France -- Conditions sociales -- 1981-.
  • Gelly, Violaine (1996). François Bayrou : portrait. [Étrépilly]: Bartillat. ISBN 2-84100-048-6. 
  • Michelland, Antoine; and Séguy, Philippe (1996). François Bayrou : "et si la Providence veut". Monaco ; [Paris]: Éd. du Rocher. ISBN 2-268-02400-8. 
  • France. Ministère de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche (1995-1997) (c1996). Les Etats généraux de l'Université. Paris: ONISEP. , preface by François Bayrou.
  • France. Ministère de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche (1995-1997) (1996). Les États généraux de l'Université : intervention de François Bayrou, ministre de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, Grand amphithéâtre de la Sorbonne, 18 juin 1996. [Paris]: [Ministère de l'éducation nationale, de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche]. 
  • (1998) Henri IV. [Paris]: Perrin jeunesse. ISBN 2-262-01301-2. , subject(s): Henri IV (roi de France ; 1553-1610 ) -- Ouvrages pour la jeunesse.
  • (1998) Ils portaient l'écharpe blanche : l'aventure des premiers réformés, des Guerres de religion à l'édit de Nantes, de la Révocation à la Révolution. Paris: B. Grasset. ISBN 2-246-55981-2. 
  • Henri IV : le roi libre. [Paris]: Flammarion. ISBN 2-08-067725-X. , le Grand livre du mois 1999.
  • Bayrou, François; and Pierre-Brossolette, Sylvie (1999). Hors des sentiers battus : entretiens avec Sylvie Pierre-Brossolette. Paris: Hachette littératures. ISBN 2-01-235258-8. 
  • (2000) Ils portaient l'écharpe blanche : l'aventure des premiers réformés, des Guerres de religion à l'édit de Nantes, de la Révocation à la Révolution. Paris: Librairie générale française. ISBN 2-253-14779-6. , series: Le livre de poche 14779.
  • Chaline, Nadine-Josette (2000). Jean Lecanuet. Paris: Beauchesne. ISBN 2-7010-1405-0. , "témoignages de François Bayrou et de Dominique Baudis", series: Politiques & chrétiens 16.
  • (2001) François Bayrou, Qui êtes-vous ? Que proposez-vous ?. [Paris]: Archipel. ISBN 2841872831. , series: L'Info. Citoyenne.
  • (2005) Oui : Plaidoyer pour la Constitution européenne. [Paris]: Plon. ISBN 2259201830. 
  • (October 2006) Au nom du Tier-Etat. [Paris]: Hachette. ISBN 2012372503. 

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