Arthur de Laborde / Photo credits: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Parliament definitively approved the law on immigration on Tuesday, a parliamentary victory for Emmanuel Macron which at the same time opens a deep divide within his majority, part of which turned away from a text supported at the last minute by the National Rally.
On “The majority united, the RN maneuver failed,” said Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, seeming to ignore the defection of nearly a quarter of her deputies. 59 majority deputies voted against the text or abstained. The executive also does not have enough votes from its MoDem allies.
A new division
A sign of the unease, the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau presented his resignation to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, without knowing during the night whether it had been accepted. Behind the scenes, Elisabeth Borne’s former chief of staff strongly opposed the toughening of the bill. Other ministers from the left wing of the macronie could also put their departure in the balance in the coming hours like Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergriete, Minister of Housing, Roland Lescure, Minister of Industry and Sylvie Retailleau, from Higher Education.
The majority therefore risks an unprecedented divide since Emmanuel Macron’s accession to power in 2017. Among the rebels, the head of the commission, Sacha Houlié, who nevertheless chaired the work of the CMP, having granted multiple concessions to the right . If the Élysée welcomes a total political victory for the president, in reality, it is an understatement to say that Emmanuel Macron’s operation will have been a loser. Months of hesitation and setbacks to have his arm twisted by the right and divide his own camp in an attempt to turn the page on this sequence. The Head of State will speak this Wednesday evening on television.