The harsh remark comes from Edouard Philippe. And she says a lot about the way in which the new dissident group at LREM in the National Assembly was received at the summit of the State: “It is fascinating that we are talking about this ninth group while the President of the Republic has just concluded a truly historic agreement with Angela Merkel to relaunch Europe. Certainly ... When we show them the sky, there are some who always look at the finger, "exasperated the Prime Minister in a small committee Tuesday, May 19 in the morning. At the same time, in the National Assembly, Matthieu Orphelin and Cédric Villani formalized alongside fifteen other deputies the launch of this famous group called "Ecology Democracy Solidarity".
Direct consequence: the group of the Republic on the march (LREM) loses its absolute majority in the hemicycle, fell to 288 deputies (289 are needed), whereas it had 314 in 2017! A situation that binds him completely to his partner MoDem, strong of its 46 elected officials, to pass its laws. The other consequence is to make François Bayrou and his family essential for the rest of the quinquennium.
With the temptation to take advantage of the sequence to advance his pawns? Potentially as part of a reshuffle where he could support the promotion of certain MoDem ministers, or to more freely carry his ideas now that his movement is king in the Assembly.
"We are no longer really the substitutes"
“On a daily basis, this will not change much because we have always followed En Marche. But symbolically, that still means that we are no longer really the suppletives… ”, admits a centrally elected representative.
"There will be no overbidding, or haggling, to obtain an arbitration, ensures for its part the boss of the MoDem group, Patrick Mignola. We prefer to make a text evolve according to our own sensitivity to gain success from time to time, than to organize weekly dissonances. It would not be up to the challenge. ” Translation: don't count on MoDem to add cacophony. “MoDem has been a stable and solid pillar of the majority for three years. This stability and solidity is our nature, ”explained François Bayrou on Monday to the Parisian.
The fact remains that his performance on Sunday on France Inter, where he spoke in reverse of the government on the opening of parks and gardens (after having expressed his indignation the day before, about the way the premium was distributed to caregivers to reward their mobilization against the Covid-19) did not go unnoticed: “Usually, he sends a text message to Macron to get the messages across and it remains under control. There, everything came out publicly. It is a way of sending messages to the majority, ”decrypts a ministerial adviser.
"Clearly not good news for Edouard"
“On France Inter, it's the first time in a long time that he really said things. It almost looked like a government program ”, does not hesitate to say a member of the MoDem, who is aware that the mayor of Pau has always dreamed of Matignon. "We will not lie: this is clearly not good news for Edouard (Philippe) because his relations with him have sometimes been shady, especially at the start," said a minister for his part.
François @Bayrou: "I propose that we analyze very precisely what this crisis requires us to borrow, and that we can realize this borrowing with a grace period of ten years." #QuestionsPol pic.twitter.com/ceFEg1UdaE
- France Inter (@franceinter) May 17, 2020Matignon notes, on the contrary, that the two men have managed to tame themselves over time: “Edouard Philippe calls him very regularly to consult him, to have his opinion. It is a full partner of the majority, ”assures the entourage of the Prime Minister. "Anyway, he doesn't really have a choice. Bayrou was central. It is now unavoidable, ”says a heavyweight of the majority.