Clément Beaune admits that he “left the government for political reasons” without clearly conceding that he was ousted from his post as minister because of his position on the text.
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“I will never learn a lesson in loyalty and commitment”, reacts Friday March 1 on franceinfo Clément Beaune, MP for Paris and former Minister of Transport. He confides having been “hurt” by some comments “often anonymous” in the press of “ministers or ministerial advisors” criticizing his position during the debates on the immigration law.
Very upset against several provisions of the text, the former minister, representative of the left wing of the macronie, had launched a Telegram loop called “Values” with several ministers. An invitation to dinner had also been extended. Ultimately, only the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, resigned. The Minister of Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau, presented her resignation which was refused by the executive.
Clément Beaune had threatened to do the same before changing his mind. The former Minister of Transport was accused of “treason” by the left, notably during a trip to the Île-de-France Regional Council. “I don’t like this word and I totally reject it. I expressed things. I was then attributed with intentions, with words of threats, of blackmail. This is not my register and it is not not what I did”, Clément Beaune defends himself this Friday.
“No break, no rupture with the President of the Republic”
The ex-minister, a Macronist from the start, was also criticized within the presidential majority. Some have criticized him for a lack of loyalty. “I expressed criticism or doubts in the debates we had within the majority” on immigration law. “I was not the only one. And many of the provisions that we discussed were censored by the Constitutional Council. So, there were reasons. But that doesn’t matter.”declares Clément Beaune. “I am not naive and I do not discover malice in politics”adds the deputy who assures that he “don’t regret anything basically” and that he will continue to express “personal beliefs within the majority”.
Without clearly conceding that he was ousted from his post as minister because of his position on the immigration law, Clément Beaune admits that he “left the government for political reasons” since “the quality of my work has been, I believe, recognized by everyone”. A reshuffle “is a political choice”, he insists. Clément Beaune assures that he “there is no break, no rupture, neither with the initial project, nor with the President of the Republic”. The deputy from Paris is “loyal to this project, faithful to the president” and also “faithful” to his voters who know his “social democratic, European beliefs”.
A left-wing coloring
The former minister does not consider that there is a hypertrophy of the right leg in the executive. “I am comfortable within the majority as long as we remain in this balance” left right. “Do we need to nourish these different sensibilities and that which is notably mine, social democrat? Yes. Should we always be in a political fight in the good sense of the term? Proposals, ideas, influences ? Yes”, he says. Clément Beaune wants to continue to “make proposals that will have this coloring” from the left.