He dared! Deemed cold or even devoid of the slightest humor in the portraits devoted to him for weeks, Michel Barnier allowed himself a good word during his general policy speech this Tuesday…
For almost an hour, he was imperturbable. Heckled from the beginning to the end of his general policy speech this Tuesday at the National Assembly, Michel Barnier never or almost never attempted to respond to the deputies, mainly those from France Insoumise, who tried to disrupt his decision. of speech. During a long monologue, delivered in a monotone voice in a hubbub sometimes making him inaudible, the Prime Minister remained faithful to his image: that of a stoic politician, even if it meant appearing dull, lukewarm, even cold. But before the end of his speech, Michel Barnier indulged in a witticism which was very noticed in the Hemicycle.
An unusual touch of humor in someone who was described by his enemies and rivals as a man devoid of the slightest second degree, sometimes making him tasteless (“What a bore, he’s a hat of night”, lamented an LR executive a few years ago. “He is devoid of humor, even Chirac said so”, sighed another). A fault that Michel Barnier himself has recognized in the past: “I know that I am so serious that sometimes people find me boring.”
“I hear here and there that some have red lines, sometimes very red”
This time, Michel Barnier therefore made an effort, particularly when he declared that he had heard those who, in the Assembly, want to set “red lines”. Lines that should not be crossed to maintain their confidence in the government. “I hear here and there that some have red lines,” said the head of government this Tuesday, beginning the last third of his speech, before pausing and looking at the deputies with mischief, to add “sometimes very red”, smirking. The wink was undoubtedly aimed at the left of the Hemicycle, which welcomed the valve with noisy irony. But maybe not only that. Gabriel Attal, who became head of the Ensemble group in the Assembly, and who had also set several “red lines” to participate in the fragile executive established in mid-September, ostensibly smiled upon hearing the joke from his successor at Matignon.
Michel Barnier also partially responded to the former Prime Minister’s concerns, continuing on this theme. “I have my own red lines, which are those of the entire government,” he continued, regaining all his seriousness. And the Prime Minister lists the areas in which his team will be inflexible: “no tolerance towards racism and anti-Semitism”, “no tolerance towards violence against women”, “no tolerance towards respect for communitarianism”, “no accommodation on secularism”, “no discrimination” and finally “no questioning of the freedoms won over the years”. A reference to marriage for all, PMA for all and the right to abortion, which the central pole, embodied by Gabriel Attal, wants to defend tooth and nail, in the face of a government deemed too conservative.
Another witticism, the Prime Minister also indicated that he was setting this line: “Listen, respect for all political sensitivities. We will respect each of you, even if that is sometimes not reciprocal!” A dig finally addressed to the LFI deputies who were regularly outraged by his comments.