Macron criticises opposition as political impasse continues

The impasse in the French National Assembly appears to have rattled president Emmanuel Macron, leading him to lash out at the opposition in a 70-minute television interview on Thursday night.

Macron was particularly irritated by the fact that Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN) joined the New, Popular, Social and Ecological Union (Nupes), led by the far-left France Insoumise (LFI) party, in voting for a no-confidence motion earlier this week.

Macron noted that the text of the motion was altered before the vote by “this baroque Nupes coalition” to satisfy the far right.

“It’s the cynicism and disorder that make me angry,” he said. “The socialists, greens, communists and LFI are ready to work hand in hand with the RN while there’s a war on in Europe.”

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About three hours later, near midnight, prime minister Elisabeth Borne invoked article 49.3 of the constitution for the third time in a week, to cut short debate on a spending bill and pass legislation without a vote.

LFI walked out of the Assembly in protest against the “masquerade” of Borne’s use of 49.3. “We are going to stop participating in this cynical, anti-parliamentarian disorder which you are organising,” LFI deputy Alexis Corbière said, mocking Macron’s statement.

In a tedious, self-perpetuating cycle, deputies freight legislation with thousands of amendments - more than 3,000 for the social security Bill which Borne passed by decree Wednesday night – prolonging debate for days on end. Each use of 49.3 has triggered a no-confidence motion. So far, none have come anywhere near passing.

LFI filed its fourth no-confidence motion in a week on Thursday morning. Macron knows that the abstention of deputies from the conservative party Les Républicains (LR) and a small centrist group known by the acronym Liot, is all that protects him from a successful no-confidence vote.

These repeated demonstrations of the impotence of his government and parliamentary party finally prompted Macron to “cross the Rubicon” and appeal to LR, as former president Nicolas Sarkozy urged him to do in an October 23rd interview with Le Journal du Dimanche.

Macron said that LR and Liot “sent a clear message” by refusing to vote for no-confidence motions. “I think that the government and [his own, relative] majority have an interest in working with those deputies to pass reforms of the labour market, pension system, immigration, and renewable energy,” Macron said. “Yes, I want there to be an alliance.”

Macron’s overture to the conservatives was far from passionate, and it remains to be seen whether LR, which has so far shunned the struggling president, will join forces with him.

Statements about law and order, immigration and the need for the French to work harder appeared calculated to please the right.

The far right has attempted to exploit politically the murder on October 14th of a 12-year-old girl called Lola. The chief suspect is an Algerian woman who is in France illegally and who ignored an expulsion order.

Without resorting to the far right’s term, “ensavagement”, Macron said, “Yes, our society is much more violent” than in the past. “I would never correlate immigration and insecurity, but when you look at delinquency, for example in Paris, yes, illegal immigration is very present in incidents of delinquency.”

Jean-Marie and Marine Le Pen were pilloried for decades for linking crime to immigration.

In 2017, Macron promised to execute 100 per cent of expulsion orders, known by the abbreviation OQTF. Only 5.6 per cent of all OQTFs were carried out in the first half of this year. Macron now promises to ensure that all orders relating to dangerous individuals will be executed. He said he will use development aid as a lever to put pressure on the countries of origin of illegal immigrants to take them back.

Macron divulged new details about his plan to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 65. “From the summer of 2023, we will prolong the retirement age by four months every year,” he said. The legal retirement age will reach 65 in 2031, four years after Macron leaves office. Two options would make it possible to raise the age only two years: larger financial contributions by employees, or a decrease in the amount of pensions.