Between Gérald Darmanin and Les Républicains, from blowback to blowback

2023-12-13 06:30:10
The president of the LR group, Olivier Marleix, after his speech on the subject of the motion for prior rejection of the “immigration” bill, at the National Assembly, December 11, 2023. JULIEN MUGUET FOR “LE MONDE”

Among Les Républicains (LR), some still give “Gerald” to the Minister of the Interior in memory of their years of companionship at the UMP then at LR. Others prefer the colder and more formal “Mr. Darmanin”. Olivier Marleix belongs to the second category. The day after the prior rejection of the immigration bill carried by Gérald Darmanin, the head of the LR deputies joked, Tuesday, December 12, about the means and energy deployed by « M. Darmanin » to win over twenty right-wing elected officials and secure the vote on his law by the National Assembly. “So much effort to finally have only two of our LR deputies [Alexandre Vincendet (Rhône) et Nicolas Forissier (Indre)] who vote against the motion to reject, it’s poorly paid”smiles Mr. Marleix.

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Six years after his departure for Macronie, Gérald Darmanin nevertheless boasted of knowing and understanding Les Républicains (an elusive object for the majority), and of being able to secure a vote without recourse to article 49.3 of the Constitution, with the support of a third of their group. Moreover, a list has been circulated unofficially. But among the names mentioned, some did not even take the trouble to come and vote on Monday. So many breakfasts, lunches and phone calls for nothing?

One MP – who remained on good terms with the minister – even received 27 SMS messages over the weekend to dissuade him from voting for the motion presented by the environmentalists. In vain. “Even if we can have consideration for the political animal, he remains considered a traitor by some of us”, recognizes Philippe Gosselin. If the elected official from La Manche abstained on Monday, the majority of the group (40 out of 62) did not have this delicacy. “He thought he would create a majority in the hemicycle by throwing us crumbs, whereas he ceded almost everything to his left wing”accuses the elected representative of Rhône Alexandre Portier.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Rejection of the “immigration” bill: for the left, a sham victory

After a short night, Gérald Darmanin visited a police station in Maisons-Alfort (Val-de-Marne) at dawn on Tuesday in the company of the LR deputy for the constituency, Michel Herbillon (abstentionist on Monday). “I suggest we take a little break from political politics,” declared the minister. The message is addressed to the accused Republicans “to waste time to protect the French” for helping to reject his text. Eric Ciotti took it for himself as party president. “Our Assembly has formally sanctioned the unbearable contempt of the Minister of the Interior, who has given in to caricature and insult since yesterday”he counter-attacked in the afternoon during questions to the government.

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