“We wanted to show the government that their attitude can lead to them being fired sooner than they think”, warns Monday, October 24 on franceinfo the vice-president RN of the National Assembly Sébastien Chenu. With 240 votes out of the 289 necessary, the motion of censure of Nupes against the state budget was not adopted on Monday despite the votes of RN deputies. “It was not a covenant”explains the RN deputy from the North, but “it allowed everyone to know exactly where they were”. “We are opponents of Emmanuel Macron and not, like LR, a crutch for the President of the Republic”believes Sébastien Chenu.
franceinfo: What happened between Sunday morning, when you said that you would not vote with Nupes, and this afternoon when you voted for his motion?
Sebastien Chenu: We wanted to give a chance to send a clear message to the government. We wanted to tell them that the wind of the cannonball would not pass far this time and perhaps that it would even make it possible to send this government back to its studies the next time. We wanted to show the government that its totally irresponsible and bigoted attitude of not wanting to retain opposition amendments may lead it to be fired and censured sooner than it thinks.
Leave to sit on your convictions?
No, we seized the democratic procedure which is that of the motion of censure provided for by the texts. We seized this political tool to advance our ideas and censure the government which does not respect its word. We said to ourselves that there was no reason. It is a motion tabled by colleagues with whom we do not share the solutions, with whom we do not agree, but we can seize this tool to censor the government beyond labels and political calculations. We also wanted to see who was really capable of calling on the opposition to do the accounts in this assembly.
So you wanted to embarrass Les Républicains?
This let everyone know exactly where they were. We are not ambiguous. We are opponents of Emmanuel Macron and not, like LR, a crutch for the President of the Republic. We oppose his policy and we want another one.
What do you answer to the deputy LR Aurélien Pradié, candidate for the presidency of his party, who replies that Marine Le Pen becomes an activist of Jean-Luc Mélenchon?
It’s ridiculous but these are the stories of Aurélien Pradié. The problem is that the Republicans have become the crutch of the government but do not assume it. We, we freely assume to have voted this motion of censure tabled by the Nupes. It is considered to be in the best interests of the country to censor the government. We can clearly see that Les Républicains are returning to the little politicking grub by not assuming themselves to support the government. However, there is no reason! If they want to agree with Emmanuel Macron and not censor him, they have to accept it and say so. The problem is that they bring it back to political stories because they are actually masking their lack of courage.
Can’t your activists make this same reproach of politicking grub by allying you with the Nupes to overthrow the government?
So first of all, it’s not an alliance. It is a motion of censure that everyone can vote for. Throughout the last few weeks, there have been amendments voted on by very different groups who have found majorities of circumstances without forming alliances. Yes, we are united against the Macron government. This is also the message that our voters have asked us to convey by telling us “Go ahead, censure this government which is doing us so much harm, which does not understand the life of the French, which refuses a policy of purchasing power Go ahead, we don’t want the Macron government anymore.” We heard that message five out of five. We want another policy, that of a 10% wage increase, a reduction in VAT to 5.5%.