Exit of Antoine Armand: Marine Le Pen urges Barnier that his “philosophy” be “shared by all ministers”

The head of deputies of the National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen, urged Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Tuesday that the “philosophy” he expressed “be shared by all ministers”, after the new Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, affirmed that the RN did not belong to the “republican arc”.

“When I hear Mr. Armand this morning explaining that his door will always be closed to RN deputies while we only have the budget arriving, I think that the Prime Minister must go and explain to all of his ministers what is the philosophy of his government, because it seems that some have not yet completely understood,” squeaked the leader of the RN.

The RN absent from the “republican arc”

In his sights, an exit from the new Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, questioned earlier on France Inter, in particular about his desire to work with all the other political groups, from France Insoumise to the National Rally. The Savoyard Macronist deputy first recalled that many elected officials had been elected thanks to the Republican front set up during the legislative elections.

As such, Antoine Armand said he was open to collaborating with all parties, “as long as they are in the Republican arc”, he said. “That is to say that the National Rally against which we were elected, against which we made a republican front, does not belong there (to the “republican arc”, editor’s note), we must be very clear on it,” he added. Regarding the training of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he indicated that “certain rebels have unfortunately exceeded the limits of the Republic”.

Éric Ciotti denounces “the bellicose declarations” of Antoine Armand

Regarding the vote on a possible motion of censure in the National Assembly against the Barnier government, he stressed that such an initiative could not succeed “if it was only voted for by the National Rally (…) It would be a motion of censure from the extreme left, or the left, with the National Rally”. “It would also be a betrayal of the Republican front on the part of the left to associate with the RN,” he said.

For his part, the boss of the Union of Rights for the Republic deputies Eric Ciotti, allies of the RN, castigated “the bellicose declarations” of Antoine Armand. “We expect” Michel Barnier “to publicly disavow Mr. Armand who has expressed a sectarianism which is unspeakable, unbearable and marks a very bad start for this government”, insisted Éric Ciotti to the press at the Assembly.