REPLAY: Bayrou officially hands over to new French PM Lecornu

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00:00Sébastien Lecornu and François Bayrou are emerging now from the Hôtel de Matignon.

00:04We will come back to you. Let's listen in.

00:18Today I welcome Sébastien Lecornu in his new job as Prime Minister.

00:25I welcome him to the government.

00:33And at this time there are three words that come to mind,

00:36beyond the words of thanks, of course,

00:41that I would address to the fabulous team that worked with me.

00:45I think we've worked together very well.

00:49And I know that there are several very important projects that are ready to go,

00:54and you will be reviewing them.

00:57The first word that comes to mind is help, the verb, to help.

01:05I will, and I'm sure that all of my team will,

01:12do everything that we can to help the new government,

01:16because we have some experience in the matter.

01:21It's not an easy thing to do, and there's a lot at stake.

01:24There are many challenges.

01:27And it's an important time for France.

01:31There are a lot of demands placed on us,

01:34and it's a critical, even dangerous period.

01:39And so my help and the help of my team is something you can count on.

01:45And this throughout the weeks and months to come.

01:47The second verb, I would mention, is unite.

01:55We must come together.

02:00Our country must not remain in division and insults and violence,

02:05everything that we've seen recently,

02:07which is in fact a severe handicap for our future.

02:13And the third verb is to invent.

02:20I don't think we will remain divided,

02:22and I do not believe that we will remain a country

02:26where elected officials and political parties

02:31will continue to deny the reality of things,

02:36continue to pretend that,

02:38no, we don't want to see difficult things.

02:45I think that, on the contrary,

02:47we must look these things in the face,

02:50and we must invent the new world that we must bring about.

02:55And we must invent this world based on the reality of our situation.

03:01And I think many, many French people want to participate

03:05in rebuilding a realistic nation.

03:09I believe deeply in political idealism.

03:15I don't think you can have a political commitment without ideals.

03:20Jaurès has said it better than I did.

03:22We must move towards the ideal,

03:27and we must begin with the real.

03:31And I think for a long time,

03:34this idea has been somewhat shadowed.

03:42And it's time now for the French to take up this idea again.

03:46And this is a time of possibility for us.

03:52Things are opening up.

03:54So we must help one another.

03:56We must unite, and we must invent.

03:59And we will be happy to do that,

04:01Mr. Prime Minister, with you and your team.

04:03Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

04:06Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister.

04:16Mr. Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen, ministers,

04:32I will not make a big speech

04:35because we can see that the current instability

04:38and crisis that we are going through

04:40calls for humility and solemnity.

04:45I would like to thank the President of the Republic

04:47for his confidence in me,

04:50and I would like to thank you as well

04:52for the help that you are offering me,

04:54which, of course, I will gladly accept.

04:57I would like to pay homage to your great courage

05:04as an activist and a citizen

05:06as you continue to defend your ideals

05:08right up until the last minute.

05:10And I think that if there is justice,

05:14one day you will be recognized

05:17for all that you have done for France.

05:20And then I would like to say to the French people

05:21that we will succeed.

05:25Nothing is impossible as we move forward.

05:30We're faced with a gap between

05:33the political situation

05:35and what citizens legitimately expect

05:38expect for their social and economic situation

05:42and what they expect from us.

05:45And there is a gap between real life

05:47and political life.

05:49It is quite a concern,

05:50not only for those of us

05:53who are sitting in governing positions,

05:55but for all of those interested in politics.

06:00And, of course, as I am leaving the position

06:03as Minister of the Army,

06:04I have seen that there are also gaps

06:08that exist between the reality of things

06:10and how things are perceived.

06:12And we can't allow that to persist.

06:16We perhaps need to be more creative,

06:18but also more technical

06:19in the way that we work.

06:21We have just spoken about this at length.

06:27But I think there will also be some disruption,

06:30and not only in terms of form and method,

06:33but there will be deep disruptions.

06:37So I will not make a long speech,

06:39but I will be meeting with political leaders

06:41in the coming days,

06:44with the trade union leaders,

06:45and I will soon be making a longer speech

06:48to the French people.

06:49Mr. Prime Minister, once again,

06:51dear François, thank you.

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