By choosing a theme that goes beyond divisions, Marine Le Pen’s group in the Assembly is forcing its political adversaries to position themselves once again on the behavior to adopt towards the RN.
“These are annoying texts”, says a majority executive. In the presidential camp, we fear the legislative proposals which will be presented on October 12 by the National Rally, during its parliamentary niche. That day, the far-right party will be able to set the agenda for the National Assembly, with texts that it has chosen. And for the group led by Marine Le Pen, who presented the program for this day on Tuesday September 19, nothing better than slipping in consensual texts to embarrass its political adversaries. And thus continue its standardization enterprise.
In this parliamentary niche, there is in particular a bill which symbolizes this strategy of the National Rally of not dividing in order to gain respectability: the text “aimed at supporting women who suffer from endometriosis”so that this disease is recognized as a long-term condition (ALD).
The subject was not chosen at random: there is consensus among all the groups represented at the Palais-Bourbon. In January 2022, a resolution defended by La France insoumise MP Clémentine Autain in favor of recognizing the disease as an ALD was passed unanimously by the 111 votes cast. Moreover, at the time, only one RN deputy had spoken favorably, the others being absent. “At the RN, they wake up at the 25th hour and discover the situation”denounces today Sandrine Rousseau, EELV deputy.
“This is a bill of political opportunism, which does them no credit.”
Sandrine Rousseau, EELV MPat franceinfo
The National Rally claims to be defending a health breakthrough for women who suffer from this disease linked to the presence of cells of uterine origin outside the uterus. “No one owns a specific subject, there is no preserve”defends Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie, RN deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône and rapporteur of the text.
“Too bad if it’s the RN”
While waiting for this famous parliamentary niche of October 12, each group is trying to define a strategy in the face of this text from the far-right party, with meetings planned in the coming days for many of them. Within the majority, the embarrassment is palpable and divisions over the attitude to have towards the RN are re-emerging. “We are not ready to vote on an RN text, but we can rewrite”, says a Renaissance executive. In short: vote on a rewriting amendment which says more or less the same thing, but which would make it possible to avoid voting on the bill from Marine Le Pen’s group. The idea, like that of the rejection of the text, was discussed Monday during a meeting of the group’s office, according to AFP.
“It won’t change people’s perceptionsannoys a Macronist deputy. Ultimately, if it happens in session, we will adopt a proposed RN law, no one will see or understand the rewriting.” The same judge “completely stupid” to reject a priori a text from the RN, while the question must be addressed again next Tuesday.
“If I am told that it is a good thing and that it advances the cause, I am one of the people who think that we should vote for it.”
A Renaissance MPat franceinfo
On the MoDem side, the group’s position has not yet been decided, but opposition in principle to an RN text is not appropriate. “We still have to analyze the bill, but the idea is to decide on the substance of the text and improve it if necessary. Too bad if it’s the RNdelivers the entourage of Jean-Paul Mattei, the president of the MoDem group. But this text must be useful, because there has already been a plan on the subject [annoncé en janvier 2022 par Emmanuel Macron] and we will analyze its effectiveness first.”
At Horizons, another ally of the presidential party within the majority, this other deputy is not far from sharing the same opinion: “We are sometimes very happy to have the voices of the RN to pass texts. If it works in one direction, why not work in the other? We have to be lucid!” The latter, however, is not fooled by the strategy of Marine Le Pen’s group.
“They use their parliamentary niches as traps… It’s the cuckoo strategy: they put themselves in other people’s nests.”
A Horizons MPat franceinfo
“It’s a trap that may be crude, but it’s annoying.”translated, embarrassed, another deputy from Edouard Philippe’s party.
A decree to short-circuit the text?
Should we vote for a bill from a political enemy or maintain a cordon santé around far-right ideas, at the expense of a proposal that is unanimously supported? Nupes leans towards the second solution. “The National Rally is in a strategy of trivialization”denounced Monday the leader of the environmentalist deputies, Cyrielle Chatelain, speaking on behalf of the alliance of left-wing parties. “We will see how we react to this niche but in no case (…) there will be a common position between us and the National Rally”, she insisted. The PS will address the subject in a group meeting in the coming days.
To counter the text, LFI MP Clémentine Autain asked Tuesday the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, to issue a decree to have endometriosis recognized as an ALD. “No answer”assures the parliamentarian a week later, who judges the text of the RN “badly done”. And she is not the only one to ask the minister to intervene. “The RN is doing blows (…) The Ministry of Health must issue a decree”, supports the socialist Jérôme Guedj. Contacted on this subject, Aurélien Rousseau’s office had not responded, late Tuesday afternoon, to franceinfo’s questions.
If this avenue were successful, the National Rally assures that it would not be offended. “If they issue a decree, I would be very happy”even affirms Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie. “Issuing a decree is not a republican front. If there is a decree, it means that there is proper care for female victims. It is in the general interest”also welcomes the RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy.
The fact remains that, in its normalization strategy, carefully applied since the start of the legislature in June 2022, the National Rally has so far not achieved concrete results (not a single text from the RN group adopted). Even when he tried to take over the proposed LFI law on the reintegration of unvaccinated caregivers, which was ultimately withdrawn.