First creak in the precarious mechanism supposed to allow the government to avoid censure: the new Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand, called to order by Michel Barnier, had to backpedal on Tuesday in the face of Marine Le Pen who criticized him for having ruled out working with the RN. On France Inter Tuesday morning, the 33-year-old Macronist minister first recalled that many deputies had been elected thanks to the “republican front” against the far-right party in the legislative elections. In this respect, he said he was open to collaborating with all parties, “in the republican arc”. “The National Rally against which we were elected, against which we made a republican front, does not belong there,” he added.
Marine Le Pen, who claims to want to “weigh” on the Barnier government, then raised her voice in the National Assembly. The Matignon resident then contacted the head of the Le Pen deputies. The head of government’s entourage announced that the latter had called his minister to repeat “the rules set”, “namely respect for voters and respect for political leaders represented in the National Assembly and the Senate”.
Key information to remember
⇒ François Hollande denounces the reframing of the new Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand by Michel Barnier
⇒ Olivier Faure believes that Michel Barnier “governs under the tutelage of the extreme right”
⇒ For Agnès Pannier-Runacher, answering “questions” from the RN, “is the job of a minister”, even if “the ideas of the RN are dangerous”
“The Barnier government depends on Le Pen,” Hollande denounces
On franceinfo, this Wednesday morning, François Hollande denounced the reprimanding of the new Minister of the Economy by Michel Barnier. “What is serious is not that Mr. Barnier reprimanded a minister. What is serious is that he called Mrs. Le Pen. This reveals what we already know: Mr. Barnier’s government depends on Mrs. Le Pen,” affirmed François Hollande. “It was Mrs. Le Pen who intervened with the President of the Republic to give a discharge so that Michel Barnier could be appointed, it is Mrs. Le Pen who sets the rule,” regretted the former socialist president. According to him, this phone call serves as “a confession”: “Mr. Barnier does not govern with the National Rally but he cannot govern without the National Rally.”
For Faure, Barnier “governs under the tutelage of the extreme right”
Olivier Faure is on the same line as François Hollande. “Michel Barnier governs under the tutelage of the extreme right, it’s simple, it’s clear, and if there was any doubt it’s gone,” said the first secretary of the PS on BFMTV on Wednesday. “He depends on Marine Le Pen and unfortunately he makes choices that will be pledges to the extreme right,” regretted the socialist deputy, denouncing “a clear ideological porosity between the right in power and the extreme right.”
Answering the RN’s questions “is the job of a minister,” says Pannier-Runacher
Answering “questions” from the National Rally, “is the job of a minister”, even if “the ideas of the RN are dangerous”, estimated this Wednesday the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher on TF1. “I answer the questions of the National Rally […] When you have to deal with a farmer’s situation, you need to have the elements, if it is the National Rally that is the bearer of news, you do the work. That is the work of a minister. It is valid for all groups,” explained the former Minister Delegate for Agriculture. “The ideas of the RN are dangerous. As a minister, it is my job, I am required to receive everyone,” she added.
“There is no one to exclude,” Larcher emphasizes
After the controversy over the remarks of the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, Gérard Larcher recalled on France Inter that the National Rally had attracted 11 million voters. “They are deputies like the other deputies, and it is logical and legitimate that the Prime Minister and the government address all parliamentarians. There is no one to exclude. The attitude of the entire government must be to speak to everyone,” declared the President of the Senate. “I think that excluding the RN from the debate prior to the budget construction is not a good way to prepare the budget and to finally have, perhaps, slightly more peaceful relations, particularly in the National Assembly,” indicated Gérard Larcher.
Municipal police: Minister of Daily Security deplores “archaic rules”
Nicolas Daragon devoted his first trip as Minister Delegate for Daily Security on Tuesday to a meeting with armed municipal police officers from Taverny, a town in Val-d’Oise, where he called for a simplification of the rules that “slow down” their action and deplored “archaic rules”.
Asked about his responsibilities as a member of Michel Barnier’s government, the new Minister Delegate (LR) specified that he would have within his remit the municipal police, civil security and in particular the fire brigade, the transport police, but also “certainly cybersecurity”.