While his majority was fractured during the vote on the immigration law and one of his ministers resigned, the French president defended the controversial text on Wednesday evening.
Despite the criticism and the sharp divisions that shake his camp and also rejecting accusations of compromise with the far right, Emmanuel Macron vigorously defended the controversial immigration law on Wednesday evening, as “a shield that we lacked”.
“That it offends certain parliamentarians, that it offends ministers, that it upsets you, it’s legitimate”estimated the Head of State, guest of the show “It’s yours” on France 5 live from the Elysée. He said thus “respect” the resignation of its Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau, in disagreement with the text adopted Tuesday evening in pain following a compromise with the right endorsed at the last minute by the National Rally.
Dozens of votes from Macronist deputies were missing, and Marine Le Pen’s RN claimed “an ideological victory” on one of its historic antiphons, national preference.
On their side, 32 left-wing departments announced that they would not apply a measure of the law deemed “unfair” And “ineffective” which aims to tighten the conditions for payment to foreigners of the Personalized Autonomy Allowance.
“That’s not true.” that the text includes “provisions which are of a National Rally nature”retorted Emmanuel Macron on television, assuring that it even constituted “a defeat” for the far-right party because it plans to regularize undocumented immigrants.
Although he recognized that certain measures did not do so “jump to the ceiling”as the deposit requested from foreign students which is not “not a good idea”, he assured that they “did not justify blocking everything”.
He thus explained that the law aimed “very clearly” to discourage illegal immigration which, according to him, is a “problem” in France, even if he rejected the idea that the country would be “overtaken by immigration”.
The president seemed to want to make his text controversial a weapon against the extreme right, believing that for “better protect the country” sometimes it was necessary to resort to “things that may shock people” but “which in my eyes are effective”.
To prevent the RN from coming to power, it “you have to deal with the problems that are feeding it” And “show that there is a response in the republican field consistent with our values”he pleaded, adding that he intended to continue to act in the three and a half years of his mandate that remains to him.
As of Wednesday morning, the executive stepped up to try to turn the page on the nightmarish day of the day before, the epilogue of 18 months of twists and turns.
“There is no crisis in the majority”assured Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on France Inter. “There is no ministerial revolt movement”, also put government spokesperson Olivier Véran into perspective after a Council of Ministers marked by the absence of Aurélien Rousseau, former chief of staff of Élisabeth Borne at Matignon.
Make “block”
The attitude of several ministers from the left wing of the Macronie, some of whom had put their resignation in the balance on Tuesday, was particularly scrutinized. That of Transports Clément Beaune was questioned by the left denouncing a “treason” during a meeting of the Ile-de-France Regional Council. He simply indicated that he would “the opportunity to speak”.
To put out the fire, Emmanuel Macron immediately seized, in accordance with his commitment, the constitutionnal Council so that it can “rule on the conformity of all or part of this law”.
Compliance that the Prime Minister herself recognized as fragile. The text “will evolve”she explained, not excluding “to come back” also on certain provisions such as personalized housing assistance, which have crystallized the latest debates.
Statements which cast doubt on the determination of the Head of State to apply the text, believes the boss of Les Républicains senators Bruno Retailleau, one of the architects of the agreement with the government on the law.
He called on the head of state to “respect the choice of parliamentarians”.
“The Constitutional Council is not the washer of consciences”, reacted the boss of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure. On the same ground, former President François Hollande estimated that Emmanuel Macron and his government had “took” the “ideas” of the extreme right.
Elisabeth Borne also assured that State medical aid (AME) for undocumented foreigners would “not be abolished”, even if she committed to the right to reform it at the beginning of 2024.
Several figures from the majority did not hide their embarrassment on Wednesday, accentuated by Marine Le Pen’s support for this text which aims to facilitate the expulsions of illegal migrants and to make the French social protection system less attractive to foreigners.
The president of the Law Commission Sacha Houlié, who voted against, said he “a bit hungover”. The President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet admitted that she “would not have written 100% of the text” and “the majority were going through a rather painful time.”
On the contrary, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, one of the favorites for the 2027 presidential election and a member of the right wing of the macronie, welcomed “a compromise between the majority and LR” Who “creates instruments we need.”