The French president, Emmanuel Macron, suffered this Monday one of the most severe parliamentary setbacks since he came to power in 2017. A majority of the National Assembly has surprisingly refused to debate the immigration law, a central project, along with the pension reform, since his re-election in 2022. The law combined repressive measures with other more progressive ones. And so it ended up not pleasing anyone.
The initiative bore the stamp of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, who presented his resignation to Macron during a brief meeting at the Elysée Palace, after the vote. “It's normal,” the minister later said in an interview on the TF1 network. “When you fail, you fail.” Macron rejected the resignation.
The “motion of rejection”, presented by the environmentalist deputies, received 270 votes in favor and 265 against. The result implies that, contrary to what was planned, the text will not be able to be debated, amended or voted on in the National Assembly in the next two weeks. Furthermore, it serves to remind us of an uncomfortable reality for Macron: although he has the group with the most deputies, he lacks a parliamentary majority.
From the extreme right of Marine Le Pen to the extreme left, passing through the moderate right, socialists and communists, an unusual coalition was formed to torpedo the bill. The left voted in favor of the motion, considering that it was too repressive and anti-immigrant. For the right, on the other hand, it was too lax and opened the doors to the regularization of undocumented foreigners and their settlement in France.
For everyone, it was above all a way to punish Macron and his prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, whom they accuse of governing with authoritarianism and with contempt for Parliament. The adoption of the pension reform by decree last spring, amid massive mobilizations and despite the opposition of the majority of French people, has left wounds.
The main victim is Darmanin, more than Macron or even Prime Minister Borne. This was his project. He was risking, and is risking, his credit. With it he intended to catapult himself to the top of French politics.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe
Darmanin, attached to the most right wing of Macronism, does not hide his ambitions. He wanted Macron to appoint him prime minister this summer to replace Borne. Unsuccessfully. He dreams, in the wake of other Interior Ministers such as Nicolas Sarkozy, of succeeding Macron in the Elysee in the 2027 elections. For him, the immigration law was an exam. He remains to see what consequences it has for his career.
The Government, for the moment, has three options. One is to archive the rule definitively, an option that Darmanin seems to rule out. Another, take it to the Senate, which is controlled by the right-wing Republicans (LR) and had already adopted a more repressive version of the text. The third is to convene the joint National Assembly-Senate commission and seek a consensus. In the second and third case, the risk for the Macronists is that it ends up being an LR law and not the one they had originally designed.
The text contemplated facilitating the expulsion of foreigners who had committed serious crimes and offenses and were a threat to public order. It also provided for granting residence permits for undocumented immigrants who worked in sectors with a shortage of work. It was the perfect expression of the Macronist philosophy of “at the same time”, his favorite catchphrase. At the same time of repression and openness. At the same time from the right and the left.
For Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN) and the first opposition party, the vote in the Assembly is “a disavowal of the at the same time, an authentic political scam that shows its true face.” It was, he added, “a pro-immigration law, which sought to organize the reception of more and more immigrants.” Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the first party on the left, France Insoumise (LFI), celebrated: “We will save the country two weeks of xenophobic speeches.” .”
The first demands for resignation were aimed at Minister Darmanin, but also at the entire Government. The setback in the National Assembly reopens the debate on the viability of the Government and Prime Minister Borne.
In the first year and a half since the legislative elections, Macron has managed to govern without an absolute majority and by decree. A larger majority, perhaps with the moderate right of LR, would allow the president to face the final stretch of his mandate more comfortably.
Follow all the international information on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#National #Assembly #inflicts #setback #Macron #rejecting #immigration #law