facing the Attal government, the left wing of the majority tempted by the creation of a dissident group

While the Attal government marks a turn to the right, a split project is being organized within the elected representatives of the majority marked to the left.

The immigration law and now a government that is moving to the right, made up of former Sarkozy ministers: within the left wing of the majority, unease is intensifying a few days before the resumption of the National Assembly. To the point of making some people want to create a dissident group. A new group, from the left, but which would remain within the majority, with those who are nauseated since this shift to the right of the Macronist boat.

“There is a real tear, a gaping wound, I am no longer ready to make any more efforts”, confides to Franceinfo one of the representatives of the left wing, who carries this split project with a form of nostalgia for the beginnings of Macronism. But there’s no question of leaving “for the wrong reasons”, with “resentment, bitterness.” The idea is simply to assert a line on “left totems”: “solidarity, humanity, ecological transition”, within the majority and not in the opposition.

Outgoing ministers at the head of this dissident group?

Some imagine in this group ministers who come from the left, who are leaving or could leave. The former Prime Minister herself, Elisabeth Borne: “If she refuses government positions it’s because she has something up her sleeve.” guesses the advisor of a minister. “We should not underestimate its power of nuisance.”

Others think of Clément Beaune, who was until then Minister of Transport. He receives, we are told, texts which encourage him to return to his seat as a deputy to lead the rebellion, on the condition that he does not return to the government.

But for the moment nothing concrete. Do they have any interest in doing so? “2024 is not a year that will be played out in the Assembly”, analyzes an advisor. “The cauldron of politics will shift to the stages and meetings” before the Europeans, which could also dampen the desire for emancipation of certain deputies.

Secret meetings organized

Can those who think about this split make it happen? Numerically it is complicated, because to become a group you need to be 15 and that is the difficulty. When these deputies are counted, there are only seven or eight of them – out of the thirty left-leaning parliamentarians – who promise to sign at the bottom of the sheet. The others must be sought out and convinced. Meetings “very informal” not to say secret, are held in meeting rooms of the Palais Bourbon. Without reservation, so as not to arouse suspicion, to avoid these meetings being interpreted as betrayal: “the day we decide to leave, they will pillory us”, fears one participant.