Have the Republicans “broken down all the barriers” in their criticisms against the Constitutional Council and the rule of law?

The decision of the Sages, who censored numerous measures introduced by LR, was denounced as an “institutional coup d’état” by several party officials, taking up a speech that goes against the history of the right.

Since night fell on the Constitutional Council on Thursday January 25, many right-wing elected officials have carried out variations on the same theme: radical criticism of the action of the Wise Men, who decided to censor around 40% of the bill. on immigration. The text, adopted with the votes of the Republicans (LR) in December, was emptied of most of the measures that they were pleased to have imposed following a standoff with the presidential camp.

The tenors of the right were quick to react, evoking in turn a “democratic hold-up”, according to the president of the party, Eric Ciotti, on RMC; A “institutional coup”, in the eyes of François-Xavier Bellamy, head of LR’s list in the European elections, on Public Senate; or even one “institutional hostage taking” according to Bruno Retailleau, boss of LR senators, on (ex-Twitter).

Usual themes of a more extreme right

One of the most vehement criticisms was formulated by Laurent Wauquiez, a possible candidate for the party in the presidential election in 2027. The president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region denounced to the Parisian and on “coup d’état de jure” Who “has established itself in recent decades in our country”. “In deadlock situations, when a supreme court censors a law, we must give the last word to Parliament”he recommends.

With these frontal attacks, the Republicans are moving closer, in the eyes of their opponents, to the far right of Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour. The National Rally and Reconquest regularly denounce a “government of judges” and criticize the preeminence of court decisions over political choices.

Considering that “the supreme courts censor entire sections of legislation passed by the representatives of the people”as Laurent Wauquiez did, does the right express itself like these two parties? “We are breaking down all the barriers”, regrets the LR deputy Alexandre Vincendet, less virulent than his colleagues in his opposition to Emmanuel Macron. The parliamentarian even draws a parallel between the speeches of his party’s leaders on Thursday evening and the illiberal policy led by Viktor Orban in Hungary.

“The statements which aim to discredit the decisions of the Constitutional Council push us towards an ‘orbanization’ of our party, and it is deadly.”

Alexandre Vincendet, deputy Les Républicains

at franceinfo

“They suggest that the constitutional judge must not have the confidence of the French. It’s dangerous”believes Anne-Charlène Bezzina, lecturer in public law at the University of Rouen. “We can draw parallels with the weakening of constitutional courts in Poland, Israel or the United Kingdom.”

A turning point in the history of the right?

The refrain of the tenors of LR against the national and European jurisdictions is however not new, recalls the constitutionalist. This type of speech and proposals has become more common in recent years. In 2021, during the party primary before the 2022 presidential election, former European Commissioner Michel Barnier proposed a “constitutional shield” to free France from certain international treaties and thus allow a “moratorium on immigration”. As an echo of Bruno Retailleau, who pointed out, that same year in The Express a “confiscation of normative power” by the different jurisdictions, with a risk of “democratic dispossession”. Designated LR candidate in the race for the Elysée, Valérie Pécresse affirmed in 2022 her intention to bring down the “constitutional wall”then reported The cross. And in the spring of 2023, Laurent Wauquiez judged in Point that “because of having put in place checks and balances, there is no longer any power, that’s why nothing changes”.

But this attitude of the Republicans clearly contrasts with the history of their political family. “The institutions of the Fifth Republic were manufactured by the rightrecalls the historian Jean Garrigues. The Constitutional Council is an invention of a right-wing man, General de Gaulle. It is those who claim to be his heirs who are at the head of the Republicans today.” “The Republicans are no longer republicans or even Gaullists”thus denounced on the socialist Olivier Faure, Friday. Jean Garrigues also evokes the singular case of Alain Juppé, founder of the UMP (which has since become LR) in 2002, who finds himself today “in the dock” as a member of the Constitutional Council.

Few right-wing executives distinguish themselves from this line of distrust of the Constitution. Friday morning, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, Xavier Bertrand, expressed his differences with his counterpart from Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on franceinfo: “I have a deep disagreement with Laurent Wauquiez on democracy, the rule of law and respect for our institutions. (…) When we are in opposition, when we want to govern, we cannot say anything”.

“There have always been classic fault lines on the right, but this one is a bit new”underlines Jean Garrigues about these different conceptions of national jurisdictions. “We see that this is part of political strategies that are not necessarily the same.” The episode could leave traces in the ranks of the Republicans who, since 2022, have alternately occupied the role of opponent or supporter of the presidential majority, depending on the legal texts. “Even if it is not a certainty, it could lead to dissension, or even an implosion of the right”warns the historian.