Immigration Law: Majority Left Regrets Macronism’s ‘Rejection of Values’

This is the epilogue of the eighteen month series. The painful history of the text being announced, postponed, withdrawn, threatened with burial, and finally voted on. But at what cost? It’s 11:22 p.m. this Tuesday, December 19, and the National Assembly has passed the immigration bill by a vote of 349 to 186. The wind rises against the text “shame”left tones Marseillaise In a hemicycle, he waved posters with words “freedom”, “Equality” or “being”as a sign of opposition. The right-wing and the far-right sing the national anthem, but with a smile on their face.

The reception of this text in the seats of the presidential majority is silent. For some it is even painful. Among the majority, against and abstaining, 59 votes out of 251 deputies were missed. 20 MPs voted against Renaissance, followed by 5 elected representatives from MoDem and 2 from Horizons. The embarrassment runs deep. There will be a before and after for Macron.

The Prime Minister, Elizabeth Bourne, may welcome A “An effective text that corresponds to republican values”He was able to notice, as expected, that his majority votes were mixed with those of the 62 deputies of the Les Républicains (LR) party, at the cost of heavy concessions on the essence of the text, but especially the 88 deputies of the National Assembly (RN) who supported the bill. And no one really wanted to consider it. In 2017, on the eve of his election at the Elysee, Emmanuel Macron still made a commitment “do everything” Fighting against the progress of the ultra-right. Five years later, when he was up for re-election, he said he knew many voters had voted in a runoff. “Blocking the extreme right”. Before launch: “This vote obliges me. »

An unprecedented case of conscience

Who can believe that? Not Sandrine Rousseau and the left in general. “No more republican barrier, republican arch, all that is dead tonight”worries the environmentalist MP from Paris. “There will be no text unless the majority is without RN”Gérald Darmanin withdrew shortly before the vote due to protests from the left. The interior minister thus reiterated the commitment made by Mr. Macron on Tuesday evening. In front of his troops, the head of state vowed that the law would not be passed thanks to the votes of the far-right and would consider asking for a second parliamentary review if it did.