EDITORIAL. The RN ostracized by its adversaries, but essential in the Assembly

Starting Friday, Emmanuel Macron will consult party and parliamentary group leaders to discuss the future government. The meeting with the RN will not take place until Monday. If the group is officially sidelined, in reality, its weight in the Assembly makes it essential.

Emmanuel Macron begins to receive the political forces on Friday, August 23 to discuss the future government, but the meeting with Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen will not take place until Monday, August 26, while the leaders of the National Rally have been discreet all summer. Nothing to do with the fact that the RN suffered a setback in the legislative elections. It’s a tradition: at the RN, the summer holidays are sacred. Marine Le Pen is used to being invisible every year, and Jordan Bardella follows her example. Their theory: there’s no point in getting active while the French are taking a breather at this time.

This summer of 2024 is no exception despite unprecedented circumstances. We are still waiting for the formation of the post-legislative government and there has been a lot of summer political unrest. But on the RN side: no sound, no images. Well, yes, one: Jordan Bardella posted this week on Instagram and TikTok a photo of himself by the sea at sunset.

They have still posted a few messages on X in recent weeks, to congratulate the Olympic champions, to salute the memory of Alain Delon, to wish the French a happy Assumption Day on August 15, or to commemorate the Landing in Provence. Marine Le Pen also wrote two political messages: one to call for a ban on the burkini, and another to protest the arrival of Lucie Castets at the Élysée Palace just now with the leaders of the NFP. That’s all. The RN is only marginally concerned by everything that happens politically despite their 126 deputies.

The RN has the first group in the Assembly, ahead of each left-wing group taken separately, and even ahead of Gabriel Attal’s group. But apart from Emmanuel Macron who will receive Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella on Monday, all the other political leaders are snubbing them. The Republican front continues. Gabriel Attal is proposing an action pact to the other parliamentary forces. He has written to everyone except the far right (and the rebels). As for the NFP and its candidate for Matignon, they are writing to all the deputies, except those of the RN.

No one intends to work with them, so the RN is more of a spectator than an actor at the moment, but a spectator who will weigh. Because with the allied group of Éric Ciotti, the RN has 142 votes in the Assembly, a considerable weight. If the left wants to overthrow a government that does not suit it, it has no chance of succeeding without the help of the RN. If the former majority wants to bring down a government possibly composed of LFI ministers, no censure is possible without the contribution of the RN. Voices that will also weigh when there are laws to vote on. In short, officially, the RN is left aside, but in reality, it will be essential in the Assembly.