Incident in the Assembly during questions to the government, Tuesday, October 11. Deal with “cowardly” by the deputy RN Alexandre Loubet, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, asked for “solemn apologies” at the National Rally and pointed the finger, furious, at the benches of the far-right party. Marine Le Pen’s group then left the hemicycle with a bang.
“Mr. Mayor, you once worked for Dominique de Villepin who denounced the cowardice of those who refuse to defend the interests of France. Today, the coward is you”, said Alexandre Loubet for Bruno Le Maire. A few minutes earlier, the member had criticized the minister for having “sold hundreds of thousands of jobs to foreign interests”.
“Bruno Le Maire thought he could threaten the RN, we don’t have to be singled out like that”then reacted Marine Le Pen in the room of the Four Columns.
“We do not threaten deputies. If a Minister of the Economy is not able to keep his nerves and although he has a case, plant strawberries”, loose @MLP_official after a meeting incident between @BrunoLeMaire and a deputy #RN who launched that the latter was “a coward” @franceinfo pic.twitter.com/gaU074djrm
— Antoine Comte (@AntoineCOMTE) October 11, 2022
“The behavior of Bruno Le Maire towards Alexandre Loubet is unacceptable and goes against the values of the Republic”, then tweeted the far-right leader. To which the minister replied that he was still waiting for an apology.
When a deputy insults a minister who has just answered him in a republican manner by calling him a “coward”, this minister is entitled to demand an apology. I am still waiting for them. https://t.co/bj4fXdEQBe
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) October 11, 2022
The RN deputies ended up returning to the hemicycle. The President of the National Assembly returned to this incident during the session and reproached the deputy Alexandre Loubet for having “insulted the minister”. Pursuant to Article 70 of the internal regulations, Yaël Braun-Pivet gave him inflicted “a call to order with entry in the minutes”. The RN deputy therefore loses a quarter of his monthly allowance.
“May be subject to disciplinary penalties any member of the Assembly: who is guilty of insults, provocations or threats towards the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the members of the government and the assemblies scheduled by the Constitution”, thus disposes section 70.
Yaël Braun-Pivet then issued a new call to order against, this time, RN deputy Frédéric Boccaletti, who described the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye, as “communitarian”.