Laurent Wauquiez announces having refused a position at Bercy

Laurent Wauquiez announced on Thursday, September 19, to the deputies of the group he chairs in the Assembly that he will not participate in Michel Barnier’s government, after having refused a portfolio at Bercy, franceinfo learned from concordant sources. “Michel Barnier offered me Bercy and so I declined to remain at the head of the group”Laurent Wauquiez told his parliamentary colleagues, according to his entourage.

“From the beginning, I said that entering the government was not my obsession. I said that I would only go if I could be useful to the Ministry of the Interior.”he added. The deputy of Haute-Loire stressed that there is “lots of points” on which his political family “finds himself”still according to those around him. “But we also see that there is strong pressure from Macron’s party, particularly on immigration and the end of life.”

Michel Barnier is said to have offered Emmanuel Macron a government of 38 posts, including 16 full-time posts. The Republicans would obtain “nine positions, including three full-time positions”. “It’s a weight of roughly 20%, it’s well below our weight in Parliament”underlines Laurent Wauquiez’s entourage. “But our position is clear: we will make it work.”