La France Insumisa takes over the Finance commission that Le Pen was persecuting
The union of left-wing parties (Nupes) led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon has won the presidency of the Finance Commission of the French National Assembly, one of the most disputed positions in the lower house of Parliament. National Regroupment, the formation of Marine Le Pen, considers that it was up to them to be the most voted among the opposition.
The position will be held by the deputy of La Francia Insumisa Éric Coquerel after obtaining 21 votes, compared to 11 for the far-right Jean-Philippe Tanguy and 9 for Véronique Louwagie, candidate for The Republicans (moderate right).
Coquerel, common candidate of the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (Nupes) was the favorite, although until the end he feared that the rest of the acronyms would ally themselves against him, something that ultimately did not happen.
Le Pen has put her head in her hands. “The most sectarian and radical extreme left has been chosen thanks to the right, which has once again shown cowardice,” said the far-right leader. She considers it “disturbing” that such a “sensitive” commission is in the hands of La Francia Insumisa and she blames The Republicans, who could have prevented it from happening.
All the opposition forces opted for the presidency of the Finance Commission, valued as a real counterweight, since it examines all the Budget projects before they pass through the chamber, supervises the State accounts, has access to confidential information and can request the opening of a parliamentary investigation.
common candidate
National Regrouping, with 89 of 577 deputies in the National Assembly, is the main opposition party, followed by La Francia Insumisa with 75 deputies. By tradition, the presidency of the finance committee is in the hands of the opposition, although not necessarily in the party with the most seats, as has happened now. The union of leftist parties, totaling 150 deputies, presented a common candidate to overcome the extreme right.
Either way, Le Pen’s party is not leaving empty-handed. He has secured two of the six vice presidencies. La Nupes denounces that he achieved it thanks to the moderate right and the government coalition.
Le Pen lost the presidential elections in April against the centrist Emmanuel Macron, but achieved an “electoral tsunami” in the legislative elections on the 19th, according to Jordan Bardella, interim president of National Regroupment. In 2017, he won only 8 seats.
The current 89 deputies in the National Assembly and his 19 MEPs in Brussels show that his party’s normalization strategy that Le Pen began a decade ago works. He changed the name to National Regrouping, aware that the name National Front scared many voters. He also expelled his father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and the most radical members to soften his speech. His aim was to make the formation more presentable to French public opinion and to establish itself as a credible alternative to Macron.
The Zemor effect
This normalization has also contributed to the irruption in the presidential campaign of far-rightist Éric Zemmour, who, with his outbursts, made Le Pen seem moderate to public opinion.
The end of the cordon sanitaire against the extreme right also explains this electoral success. In previous elections, every time a candidate went to the second round, all the rivals united against him. “Not a vote,” they proclaimed. This time the instructions were not so clear.
Le Pen has promised that he will make “a firm but responsible opposition. That is to say, respectful of the institutions». That is why he announced that his first bill will be against Islamism. He is already dreaming of the 2027 presidential elections after, according to Bardella, with his 89 deputies “a new era opens for National Regrouping: the one that will lead to victory.”
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