French deputies adopted this Monday, December 11, a motion to reject the Immigration bill, with the votes of the left, the right and the far right, inflicting a very heavy political defeat on the government.
3 mins
Even before the start of the examination in the National Assembly of the Immigration bill carried by Gérald Darmanin, its text was rejected by the oppositions who voted for the preliminary motion of rejection tabled by the environmentalists. It was adopted by five votes, 270 votes for, 265 against.
This extremely slight gap illustrates the uncertainty which will have governed the outcome of this vote until the end, observes Eric Chaurin, from the RFI political service. Even with a sleeping Nupes, that of the entire left – Rebels, socialists, communists and ecologists – had been acquired for a long time. The question arose, however, for the right and the extreme right. The suspense finally lasted until the end. The elected representatives of the National Rally decided on their position just before the debates, while the Republicans waited for the introductory remarks from Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin to leave the Hemicycle and decide on theirs. The two parties therefore made the same choice by voting for the motion of no confidence, but for reasons diametrically opposed to those of the left.
The adoption of the motion results in the interruption of examination of the text even before the substantive articles are discussed. The government can now choose to let the text continue its legislative journey in the Senate or in a joint committee bringing together deputies and senators, or decide to abandon it.
Darmanin offered his resignation
Gérald Darmanin « tendered his resignation » this Monday evening to Emmanuel Macron « who refused it “. “ The President of the Republic asked the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories to make proposals to move forward by lifting this blockage and resulting in an effective law. », added the entourage of the Head of State.
The head of government invited the ministers concerned and the presidents of parliamentary groups on Monday evening to discussions resembling a crisis meeting. By voting in favor of a prior motion to dismiss, “ oppositions refuse debate on a subject important to the French », Estimated the entourage of the Prime Minister. This motion of rejection, voted by LR, the RN and the Nupes, “ it’s the alliance of opposites », added the same source.
Shame for the government
The left and the National Rally (RN, far right) welcomed the adoption of the rejection motion standing in the hemicycle, with left-wing deputies calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. This rejection is a snub for the latter, who bet on finding a way, particularly with the right, to get his text passed to the National Assembly, after its adoption in the Senate in a strongly toughened version.
“ Darmanin tamed the small Macronist groups. But not the National Assembly. It feels like the end of the road for his law and therefore for him », Judged the leader of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X (ex-Twitter). “ The disavowal that has just been expressed this evening is extremely powerful “, reacted the president of the RN Marine Le Pen, believing that she had thus “ protected the French from a migratory draft “.
After several back and forths between the two chambers of Parliament, the reform, which was initially based on “two legs” – controlling immigration, improving integration – leaned clearly towards the repressive side, in the opinion of many observers, with many measures to facilitate the expulsions of “delinquent” foreigners and to discourage entry into the territory. France has 5.1 million foreigners in a legal situation, or 7.6% of the population, and welcomes more than half a million refugees. It also has 600,000 to 700,000 illegal foreigners, according to authorities’ estimates.
(And with AFP)