2023-11-18 07:00:19
Emmanuel Macron, in Bern (Switzerland), November 15, 2023. PETER KLAUNZER / AP
Due to a lack of consensus, and in the absence of the Les Républicains (LR) party, the “Saint-Denis meetings” nipped in the bud, Friday November 17, any prospect of a referendum on immigration. “A form of national unity”according to the national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, Marine Tondelier, was formed to reject the idea.
Around the table, where the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, the three assembly presidents and eight party leaders, were gathered, “many of us said it was complicated or dangerous”reported the national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel. “We will save time”had smiled François Bayrou, the president of the MoDem, calculating that this proposal had suddenly “unlikely to prosper”. The president of the National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, described himself at the exit as “the only spokesperson for those who want to control immigration”.
In the closed session of the educational house of the Legion of Honor of Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis), the Head of State recalled that the referendum proposals formulated in recent weeks, whether on the end of life or on immigration, involve an extension of the scope of Article 11 of the Constitution to social questions. To do this, the National Assembly and Senate must adopt a constitutional bill in the same terms, which must then be approved by a three-fifths majority of Congress. A double barrier that is difficult to break, given the state of the forces present in Saint-Denis.
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The President (Renaissance) of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, the secretary general of the Macronist party, Stéphane Séjourné, François Bayrou and Jordan Bardella, said they were in favor of broadening the scope of article 11 to social issues, specifies the Elysée.
On the other hand, neither the President (LR) of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, nor that of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council, Thierry Beaudet, nor the former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (Horizons), nor the boss of the Union of Democrats and independents, Hervé Marseille, nor the three left-wing parties present defended such a modification of the Constitution. Fabien Roussel estimated “complicated to expand the possibility of holding referendums on societal subjects such as immigration, as they are broad and divisive”.
In front of the eleven participants (out of fourteen guests), Emmanuel Macron therefore “taken note” what “the majority necessary to guarantee the adoption of a constitutional bill (…) cannot be assured”announced the Elysée at the end of the meeting.
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