The President of the Republic spoke on the immigration bill for the first time since the rejection of its examination by the Assembly. The Minister of the Interior was traveling to Calais, before the text was passed to the joint committee from Monday.
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We had not yet heard the sound of his voice since Monday’s slap and the rejection in the Assembly of the examination of the immigration bill in the Assembly. Emmanuel Macron of course pulled the strings behind the scenes. From meetings to political dinners, it was he who comforted Gérald Darmanin, from Monday evening. It was also he who decided to send the immigration text to a joint joint committee, assuring in passing during a dinner at the Elysée that there would be neither 49.3 nor dissolution. And above all, by swearing that the immigration law would be abandoned if there was none. But publicly, no sound, no image until Friday December 15, from Brussels, on the sidelines of the European Council.
The head of state calls “pragmatism”, he said, he had to find a compromise. “I am in favor of an intelligent compromise being found in the service of the general interest, and of the country, and that it allows us to have a text which improves our common functioning and allows us to better protect the French.” However, he does not go into detail about the current negotiations. Once again he lashed out “the immense responsibility taken by two historic forces of government“ who have “decided to no longer be so by choosing to vote with La France insoumise and the National Rally”. Emmanuel Macron specifically targets the Socialist Party and the Republicans, at the risk of attacking the right. But the head of state regrets their “game of obstruction and refusal of dialogue” that the French, he said, “can’t understand.” “I don’t understand either. We can agree or disagree, but I find it weird not to talk.”
The president repeats it: if a compromise is found on the immigration bill in the joint committee, there will be no 49.3. And he explains why. “It is true that I assumed the use of article 49.3 for the final vote on a pension law which was one of the most debated in the 5th Republic. It would not be serious to pass a text sensitive in 49.3 while the oppositions did everything to ensure that there was no debate. I try to be consistent.”
Darmanin, this minister who “never spared his pain”
Emmanuel Macron also had a word for Gérald Darmanin, his Minister of the Interior “who never spared his pain”. And this Friday, he was traveling to Calais. This does not mean a pause in negotiations. Certainly, no official meetings today in Elisabeth Borne’s office in Matignon, but the negotiations continue. And in Calais, Gérald Darmanin only thought of one thing: finding an agreement. “I think we can find, both in the government’s initial measures, which are extremely firm and which we need, but also in the proposals made by the Republicans. I believe in an agreement which will be closer to the text of the Senate. There are 100 articles, I’m not going to detail them all here. What we need is for us to have a text. Because if we don’t have it, I think the French would legitimately say that political leaders in Paris do not realize what they experience in real life, with real people. Everyone must take a step. There is indeed a very significant risk that if we do not start “Agreement, the big winner is neither the Republicans nor the presidential majority, but the National Rally.”
Once again, this move by Gérald Darmanin owed nothing to chance. Calais, obviously a very symbolic city: last night, again, two migrants died during two separate attempts to cross the Channel to England. Gérald Darmanin was in the same constituency of Pierre-Henri Dumont, Les Républicains deputy who voted on Monday for the motion to reject. But the minister agrees to discuss with the right, even if it means putting it a little too much in a position of strength. Even if it means losing part of your own majority. “I have known Mr. Dumont well, for a very long time. We don’t agree on everything, but we manage to discuss. I think he could say it. It’s also a message. Of course, politics , it’s endurance and it’s also trying to convince.”
The message from the Minister of the Interior: not finding an agreement would be a defeat for the French, a victory for the RN. Since then, without microphone or camera, Gérald Darmanin has gone to Tourcoing, to his home, to “to take the pulse”, said one of his advisors. On his agenda this weekend, meetings, notably those of the last chance on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Matignon, phone calls. In short, no real rest. It’s a tough weekend of negotiations ahead.