Marine Le Pen’s Response to Michel Barnier’s Speech
During Marine Le Pen’s speech, a cry erupted from the benches of La France Insoumise: “It’s Valentine’s Day!” An ironic phrase to mock the friendly tone used by the leader of the National Rally’s (RN) deputies in response to Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s general policy declaration on Tuesday, October 1st, at the National Assembly. For an afternoon, the far-right leader had taken off the defendant’s suit she was required to wear since Monday, in the embezzlement trial targeting her party, to put on her white jacket as the president of the largest group in the Assembly. With crossed arms, tormenting her pen and hardening her speech as the head of government rolled out his, she never showed the slightest annoyance. She could relish the numerous allusions from the left to the phone call Michel Barnier had made to her on September 24th to apologize for the remarks made by his Minister of Economy, Antoine Armand – the highlighted role of the RN as an arbiter particularly pleasing to her ears.
Michel Barnier’s Proposals and Marine Le Pen’s Response
During his speech at the podium, the Prime Minister made several nods to the far-right in the hemicycle. While less radical than the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, he put forward proposals in the areas of justice and immigration that could be well received by the RN. He expressed the desire to “limit” the possibilities of sentence adjustments for them to be fully executed, to mitigate the “minority excuse,” and to strengthen the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex). He also hinted at a potential reconsideration of the 1968 agreement facilitating Algerian entry into France. Facing the Prime Minister who opened many doors, Marine Le Pen made sure not to close any, adapting her speech to Michel Barnier’s. It seemed like a dialogue, and “that was the goal,” confirms Jean-Philippe Tanguy. The RN group delegate president adds, with eager eyes: “Why would we refuse this hand extended to break the republican barrier?”
Marine Le Pen’s Conditions for Not Censoring the Prime Minister
For the first time, Marine Le Pen outlined the conditions that would lead her troops not to censor the Prime Minister. Unsurprisingly, the introduction of an immigration law, “in the first quarter of 2025,” is part of it. In the eyes of the RN leader, it should include measures from the law proposed by Elisabeth Borne’s government and censored by the Constitutional Council in January, especially those establishing a form of national preference. One of Marine Le Pen’s three demands, for three stages of a mandate that, in her view, will not exceed nine months.
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