cacophony at the top of the state

The majority continues to tear their hair out around the notion of “republican arc”, seeking to position themselves vis-à-vis the National Rally. Latest episode to date, Monday morning with Emmanuel Macron who contradicts his Prime Minister in an interview.

“The RN does not fit into the Republican arc”, the president seems to decide in an interview with the communist newspaper l’Humanité on February 18. A seemingly very clear distance from the words of Gabriel Attal. Recently, on two occasions, the Prime Minister explained that, in his opinion, “the republican arc is the hemicycle”, the entire hemicycle therefore, including the National Rally and France Insoumise. Comments which aroused emotion in the majority, while Élisabeth Borne advocated exactly the opposite. Olivier Véran, now a former minister, is pleased to now be able to “reopen it”, and he too, took the opposite view of Gabriel Attal and excluded the RN from the Republican arc. It’s cacophony at the top of the state.

The president seems to decide, but by contradicting his Prime Minister, Emmanuel Macron contradicts himself. Questioned a few days ago in Bordeaux following Gabriel Attal’s comments, Emmanuel Macron agreed with him, deeming discussions with the RN completely normal. The president even went so far as to assume “to constitute majorities which can be supplemented or increased by votes coming from the RN”. Strange comments when we know that at the time of the vote on the immigration law, Emmanuel Macron had explained that the text should not pass thanks to the votes of the National Rally.

The notion of “republican arc”, a trap for the macronie

And these are not the only paradoxes of the president, in Humanity, the head of state believes that “the far-right forces would be inspired not to be present at the pantheonization of Missak Manouchian, given the nature of the communist resistance fighter”. It thus returns the RN to its past, whereas, when Élisabeth Borne had judged that the RN was the heir of Pétain, the head of state had sharply reframed it, explaining that the fight against the extreme right should not more pass “by moral arguments”.

First of all, it is not easy to justify excluding from its field parties represented in the institutions of the Republic. Then, it is difficult to oust the RN when we take up some of its ideas and Marine le Pen’s troops vote as one on the majority’s proposals. Finally, this debate on the definition of the republican arc is the tree that hides the forest, or rather which hides the absence of a clear line from the Macronists when it comes to the fight against the RN.

Less than four months before the European elections, by repeating that Marine Le Pen’s party is outside the Republican arc, Emmanuel Macron undoubtedly wants to revive the populist/progressive divide which had succeeded in 2019. But this is to forget that values ​​are not an à la carte fight and while the macronie divides, no arc or no field prevents Marine le Pen from advancing, inexorably.