France: Assembly office, the “status quo” is debated at Renaissance

the Renaissance party torn over the immigration bill

The deputies will return at the end of the month with several big issues on the menu: the budget and the immigration bill. Behind the scenes, a more subdued battle rages for the election of the future office of the Assembly. This office is where we manage the finances of the Palais Bourbon, where we decide on sanctions in the event of misconduct on the part of the deputies. And a new team must therefore be elected in October for the next legislature.

This is a strategic internal election. We first think of the National Rally which won 2 vice-presidential positions, a real recognition for Marine Le Pen’s party which wants at all costs to gain credibility. We have therefore seen RN elected officials chairing sessions of the Assembly. A first. Sébastien Chenu and Hélène Laporte were elected thanks to the votes of Republican or Renaissance deputies, which sparked a controversy. To justify their votes, some explained that they had given their vote to an elected RN in the name of the representativeness of the Assembly because with nearly 90 deputies, the National Rally deserves according to them to have places in the leadership of the lower house of Parliament.

The presidential camp even more divided

What should be done ? Renew the office, even if it means voting RN or excluding extreme candidates? The subject was invited this week to the parliamentary days of Renaissance, Emmanuel Macron’s party. Gathered in the middle of the countryside, the Macronists are not in complete agreement. No question of putting an RN ballot in the ballot box », warned a deputy. But others are pushing to keep the team in place for a year. And they have weight support. That of Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly, is campaigning for the status quo. She defended her point of view during her speech in front of around a hundred deputies. And his proposal was not really well received. Big moment of solitude for Yaël Braun-Pivet, at this moment of his intervention. No applause, a long silence which says a lot… The allies of Modem and Horizons would not be a priori not against renewing the office as is, they were rather well served, as were the oppositions. But the issue is so sensitive that a specific meeting will be organized between Renaissance deputies. There could even be an internal vote, a Macronist elected official told us. And it’s not nothing. Coming to a vote to adopt a common position is rare within a parliamentary group where traditionally, the position of the leaders is followed by the troops. One of the options for the majority is to abstain during the vote so as not to vote for the RN and free themselves from responsibility for the result.

Eric Coquerel replaced?

This renewal of the Assembly’s bodies also concerns the chairmanship of the committees. Eric Coquerel could be replaced. The rebellious MP made enemies during the pension reform: he did not declare the Liot bill inadmissible to repeal the government’s text, which forced the President of the National Assembly to do so herself. even. Many in the majority want to make him pay for it.

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