The image stood out to many observers this Friday, June 7. While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was received at the podium of the French National Assembly to deliver a speech in the morning to the deputies, the latter were far from being unanimously present in the hemicycle.
The Renaissance and presidential majority deputies were thus the only ones to be present in the majority. The environmentalist and socialist deputies, to a certain extent, were also there.
On the contrary, among those absent, the ranks of LR deputies were particularly empty, with the notable absence of their leader, Olivier Marleix, or the president of the party, Eric Ciotti. Likewise for the LFI and communist deputies, very few in number in the hemicycle this Friday morning. Or even on the side of the National Rally, with the exception of a few deputies present around Marine Le Pen.
“An instrumentalization of the conflict”
Of course, there are many reasons that can keep an MP out of the chamber. Friday is particularly a day very often marked out for elected officials to go to their constituency, to meet citizens in their parliamentary office or even local actors. For his part, the national coordinator and deputy of La France insoumise Manuel Bompard, for example, explained on (ex-Twitter) its absence by the European “campaign”, while political parties have until midnight tonight to campaign before this Sunday’s election.
But the timing of Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in particular sparked mixed reactions on the left of the hemicycle. On the LFI side, Arnaud Le Gall, for example, regretted a speech “which is not welcome two days before the European elections” this Sunday, “without debate” in the Assembly. “It’s not the right day, there is an exploitation of the conflict,” added Insoumis MP Bastien Lachaud.
On the side of the communists, whose ranks are also sparse, there is the same story about the timing of this arrival. “Listening to the president of a country that we support in his resistance to Putin is important,” said the national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel. But the latter said he was “extremely worried about the comments made by President Zelensky” and the parallels made with the Second World War. “He calls for Europe to enter into a third world war, we all said ‘never again’.” Fabien Roussel finally criticized the announcements made this Thursday by Emmanuel Macron, in particular on the sale of Mirage 2000-5 to Ukraine. “We are asking for at least a debate in Parliament with a vote,” he insisted.
But the position that caused the most controversy was that of a La France insoumise deputy, Jérôme Legavre. The latter, also a parallel member of the Independent Workers’ Party (POI), a Trotskyist movement, published a press release entitled : “No, Zelensky is not welcome in France, and Putin would not be either”, in which he puts the Russian and Ukrainian leaders back to back in responsibility for the war in Ukraine.
“Zelensky, presented here as the defender of democracy, has banned 11 opposition parties, repressed the unions, promulgated a state of emergency which suspends public freedoms. We should rejoice at the reception with great fanfare of this character at a time when Macron is considering sending troops to Ukraine? writes Jérôme Legavre again. Comments which earned him condemnations from Renaissance elected officials, such as Benjamin Haddad, deputy for Paris. “Zelensky should join Hamas, he would perhaps have a chance of being applauded by La France insoumise,” responded the latter on.
“A magnificent parliamentary moment”
For their part, the Renaissance elected officials welcomed this arrival of Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to sign two agreements this Friday evening at the Elysée with Emmanuel Macron, to the tune of 650 million euros in loans and donations. “It’s really nitpicking and making double-headed polemics if you’ll forgive me that expression,” retorted the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet to the press. “I think it’s a magnificent parliamentary moment,” she declared, saying she was “proud” to receive the Ukrainian president.
“It is a great honor given to the deputies of the Republic to be able to welcome President Zelensky. He was able to make an extremely strong speech of friendship towards France and the support he needs,” declared to the AFP Sylvain Maillard, president of the Renaissance group. “It was a serious, extremely strong speech which reminds us of our responsibilities,” also judged the head of the environmentalist deputies Cyrielle Chatelain.
“Important speech by Volodymyr Zelensky to the French National Assembly which recalls that ‘without the involvement of the whole world, Europe would not have won the war'” Broris Vallaud, leader of the socialist deputies the day after the D-Day commemorations. Few reactions, however, from the National Rally or the Republicans, whether present or absent. Sometimes silence is worth more than a thousand words.