French PM faces backlash over holiday excuse

PARIS (Reuters) -French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou faced a backlash on Thursday after saying he didn't hold talks with the opposition in August to try and avoid a political crisis because everyone but him was on holiday.

Bayrou announced on Monday he would hold a confidence vote in parliament on September 8 to try and break a stalemate over the 2026 budget.

The centrist prime minister, who is very likely to lose that vote and be out of office as the main opposition parties say they will vote against him, said he would meet with opposition leaders next week to try and convince them to change their minds and back him.

Asked by TF1 TV on Wednesday why he had not invited them for talks earlier, Bayrou said: "Because they were on holiday."

"In August, they were all on holiday," he added.

That immediately triggered angry comments.

"I don't like lies," far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on X, adding her party had sent Bayrou economic policy proposals over the summer.

On TV news channel LCI, Greens leader Marine Tondelier said she was "extremely shocked" by Bayrou's comments. Her party held a days-long annual convention last week and was not on holiday.

Asked about the backlash, Bayrou stood by his remarks on Thursday.

"How is that a criticism? All French people know it's normal and that that's how things work," he told reporters, speaking of August holidays.

Referring to the confidence vote, Manuel Bompard, from the hard left France Unbowed party, quipped on X that Bayrou himself would soon be on holiday.

(Writing by Ingrid Melander, additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Susan Fenton)