2023-12-21 12:00:02
The plea lasting more than two hours in which Emmanuel Macron, guest of the program “C à vous” on France 5, engaged on Wednesday, December 20, reflects the seriousness of the crisis which is shaking the presidential camp after the adoption in the pain of the immigration bill. The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, resigned and fifty-nine deputies from the majority failed to vote on the text toughened by the right and dubbed, at the last minute, by Marine Le Pen. This is the first significant defection suffered by Emmanuel Macron since his accession to the Elysée. It is all the more dangerous as it occurs in a situation of relative majority, and risks leading to paralysis if it is not quickly contained.
Also read the editorial of “Le Monde”: Immigration law: a political and moral rupture
Added to this crisis is a moral dimension that is particularly detrimental to the image of Macronism: since, pressed by the Head of State, Elisabeth Borne concluded negotiations with the radicalized LR parliamentarians, the executive has been accused by the left for having adopted the ideas of the National Rally instead of fighting them.
Emmanuel Macron’s response played out on two registers. The first, offensive, consisted of asserting its way of countering Marine Le Pen, who had become the most dangerous opponent. It’s necessary “start from reality, address the problems that concern the French”, he pleaded, castigating the failure of his predecessors to “combat mass unemployment, deindustrialization and achieve integration”.
Also read the story: Article reserved for our subscribers Emmanuel Macron takes on the “immigration” law and hits back
Contrary to what he did for pension reform, the head of state took advantage of the polls. The text on immigration, which the opposition did not want to debate in the National Assembly, benefits from broad support among public opinion, he indicates, while legislation is becoming tougher all over Europe.
The choice to discard
The other register was clearly more defensive. Taking note of the deep unease expressed by the majority, the founder of En marche! judged “legitimate” the disagreements which were expressed in his camp and he himself admitted not ” to like “ all the provisions adopted. Certain measures imposed by LR, such as the limitation of land rights or the restriction of access to social benefits to foreigners in a legal situation, in fact validate the vindictive discourse of the far right.
Emmanuel Macron could have rejected them, but the text, which also includes provisions to facilitate deportations to the borders, accelerate decisions on asylum and legalize a certain number of regularizations in professions in tension, could not have seen the day. To preserve what he valued, he preferred to let the right do its thing and then rely on the Constitutional Council, which he contacted to sort things out. The choice to defer to a subject which touches on the values of the Republic is all the more problematic as it will push the right and the far right to intensify their crusade against the judges, in the event of partial invalidation.
Also read the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers The Constitutional Council charged by the executive with correcting the “immigration” law
Whatever its final wording, the immigration bill, which came after the contested pension reform, will have cost the executive a lot. The Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior emerged from the ordeal as weakened as each other. The social-democratic wing of the majority, marginalized since the second term, is in decline. The rest of the troops do not break up, but look for a mobilizing project to cling to. In a hurry to turn the page, Emmanuel Macron nonetheless remains accountable for the hazardous choices he made, in a political context that is getting tougher day by day.
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