Some stretching with a very uncertain fight. The Republicans (LR) deputies defended this Thursday, December 7 – in vain – two texts on immigration, four days before the government bill arrived in the Assembly. Their proposed resolution calling on the executive to denounce the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968 was rejected and their proposed constitutional law (PPLC) was to suffer the same fate before midnight. These two texts were put on the agenda by the right as part of its “parliamentary niche”, a day for which it sets the program as it wishes.
This defeat is not a surprise. Better still, she was expected. LR did not submit these texts to win, but to justify its opposition to Gérald Darmanin’s bill, expected this December 11 in the hemicycle. The right depicts the calling into question of the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968 – it facilitates the conditions of entry and stay in France for Algerian nationals – and a constitutional revision – it would allow freedom from European law – as a prerequisite for any effective migration policy. If the executive does not want it, it is because it is claiming its powerlessness. QED.
Unit on the niche
The Darmanin law? A simple, pointless gadget. “It will not apply to Algerians, storms the boss of LR deputies Olivier Marleix. It will also have a limited scope because the judges will bring in through the window what the Minister of the Interior brings out through the door.” This Thursday, LR struggled to tighten the intellectual link between its niche and the Darmanin text. On the podium, the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes Michèle Tabarot defended her resolution on Algeria, a “corollary” of the PJL immigration. “The bill does not allow us to make the will of the French people prevail over national or supranational jurisprudence and therefore condemns us to powerlessness,” says LR boss Eric Ciotti in defense of his PPLC.
In the spring, the vote for this PPLC was presented by the right as an imperative condition for endorsing the government copy. “It’s all or nothing!” thundered Olivier Marleix in the JDD. Too bad if this threat has since been put away. The Assembly’s Law Commission unraveled the PJL muscled by the Senate. Exit the abolition of migration quotas, the abolition of state medical aid (AME) or the reform of the nationality code. This work of deconstruction is more than enough for LR to oppose the Darmanin text. “We will not vote on the text as it was adopted by the Law Commission,” Eric Ciotti assured Wednesday during a press conference.
The thorny motion to reject
Here is the right united before the arrival of the PJL in public session. Well almost. A small stone has just slipped into his shoe. On Monday, the 577 deputies will vote on a rejection motion defended by the ecologist Benjamin Lucas. Its adoption would be a slap in the face for the executive. The Assembly would not even examine the immigration text. It would then be sent back to the Senate – which examined it a month ago – or studied by a Joint Commission, a body bringing together 14 parliamentarians (7 deputies and 7 senators) with a view to an improbable compromise. The aridity of the parliamentary procedure would hardly mask a political reality. “In the event of a motion to reject, the text is dead,” summarizes an LR executive.
So, should you give your thumbs down or up? Immerse Gérald Darmanin’s head underwater or let him swim and try to convince the National Assembly? As is often the case, the right is divided. Olivier Marleix would have liked to defend a motion to reject himself. But, like La France insoumise (LFI), he lost the draw to the environmentalist Benjamin Lucas. The ecologist will defend his text alone. And not really to criticize the government’s lax migration, even if it refrains from engaging in any “useless provocation” towards the right.
To vote or not to vote. The subject was discussed this Thursday at 1 p.m. during a group meeting of LR deputies. Oh surprise, the group is fractured. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages for LR. Advantages: avoid the eternal image of “crutch of the macronie” adorned by the RN because of its refusal to vote on motions of censure of the oppositions. It’s time to show off the muscles. And then, a return of the text to the right-wing Senate will not displease LR. Disadvantages: you have to hold your nose and vote for an environmentalist proposal; Also beware of the lawsuit in refusal of democracy that the government will bring.
The unknown RN
And then, the equation contains an unknown. What will the National Rally (RN) do? His votes are decisive to win. Let’s summarize. If the far right votes for the motion, LR has the fate of Darmanin in its hands. If she does not vote for it, the ballot loses all stake. On the right, we get lost in hypotheses. Pierre-Henri Dumont, deputy for Pas-de-Calais: “People would not understand that the RN is saving Darmanin. They cannot not vote for it.” Aurélien Pradié, MP for Lot: “The RN will not vote for it, it does not fit with its responsible opposition strategy.”
The far-right group, which will bring together its flock on Monday at 3:30 p.m., is not revealing its cards. And leaves the right, more prone to divisions than it, in the dark. LR’s unity is still at stake here. The deputies must meet again on Monday for a new meeting. An internal memo will be sent to them to inform them about the motion of no confidence, a parliamentary tool that is sometimes little known. “The motion of no confidence is only of interest if we are united,” warns Aurélien Pradié. Olivier Marleix is more for it. Eric Ciotti remains cautious. Above all, he reminded his troops of the importance of being united. “I don’t know what he’s thinking and yet I was there,” smiles a deputy. The right has a few days to tune its violins.
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