On Monday, the National Assembly surprisingly rejected the immigration law proposed by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin by 270 votes to 265, even before the accession debate had begun. The Parisian political scientist Alain Duhamel spoke of a political ‘slap in the face’.
The fact that the all-powerful French president is being punished in this way by the notoriously weak parliament is new. It says a lot about Macron’s weakened position.
In contrast to his first term, his Renaissance Party has governed without a majority in the National Assembly since 2022. Macron has pushed through the unpopular increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 with a constitutional twist. When it comes to the current immigration law, all opposition parties have now joined forces against him, even though they are politically light years apart. The fact that they were not afraid to join forces against the Macronists is a testament to the strength of the rejection facing the president.
Against a shortage of skilled workers
In fact, right-wing and left-wing populists opposed the new immigration law for opposite reasons. Marine Le Pen accused Darmanin of making the expulsion of those who arrived illegally stricter just for appearance’s sake; At the same time, he is bringing new migrants to the country to compensate for the shortage of skilled workers in certain professions, such as construction or tourism. However, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the left-wing ‘Indomitables’ accused the law of creating an ‘atmosphere of racism’ because skilled workers primarily meant European immigrants.
It is no coincidence that the parliamentary revolt against the head of state is based on the migration issue. The mood in the country has become heated after several knife attacks. In November, a young visitor to a village festival was stabbed in Crépol, and then a German tourist was stabbed in Paris.
In October, a young Chechen murdered a teacher in Arras. Darmanin claimed that under the new immigration law the radicalized perpetrator would have been deported sooner. Le Pen denied this. She accused humanitarian organizations of preventing the perpetrator’s Muslim family from being deported in 2014.
In addition to the immigration law, the head of state is also failing with his general political center course. According to his favorite expression ‘en même temps’ (at the same time), Macron once again tried to satisfy both political camps. With the immigration law, the unpopular president, who was almost hated by the opposition, only managed to antagonize both parties.
Macron decided on Tuesday to set up a parity-based parliamentary committee to make his own proposals for a new migration law. However, with this minimal solution he will hardly be able to get out of the affair. Le Pen demands Darmanin’s resignation and especially the calling of new elections. Macron cannot help in this; Because if his arch-enemy Le Pen wins the elections, he would have to form a government with the right-wing extremists based on the principle of ‘cohabitation’. That is out of the question for him.
The president could, as often happens, sacrifice his Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. This would not give him a parliamentary majority. The president is increasingly isolated and has rejected the last leftists in his camp with the immigration bill. His longtime companion Daniel Cohn-Bendit officially ended his friendship with him this week. On the conservative side, however, Republicans are no better at speaking to Macron. So he must prepare to spend the remaining three and a half years in the Elysée Palace twiddling his thumbs. A terrible idea for a hyperactive president. (aargauerzeitung.ch)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
