Members' defections: LREM soon deprived of its absolute majority in the Assembly?

The "em ... it always flies in a squadron," said Jacques Chirac. Emmanuel Macron, in the midst of a health turmoil and at the dawn of one of the most serious economic and social crises in recent history, could experience it bitterly. According to information from "Les Echos" confirmed to "Parisien", a dozen - or more - of deputies could leave the benches of La République en Marche (LREM) in the National Assembly and join a dozen other elected officials to create a ninth group at the Palais Bourbon. Its name: "Ecology, democracy, solidarity. "

Political deflagration would then be major, putting an end to the absolute majority enjoyed by the macronist group in the hemicycle since 2017. Weakened by the departure of 18 deputies since the start of the legislature, the group would no longer have more than 286 elected against the 289 necessary for an absolute majority.

Among these possible defectors, “scolding” deputies who have repeatedly expressed their disagreement with the line of the executive: Aurélien Taché (Val-d'Oise), very upset against certain government policies (asylum and immigration, secularism); Guillaume Chiche (Deux-Sèvres), with a more social fiber; Emilie Cariou (Meuse), Fiona Lazar (Val-d'Oise), Claire Pitollat ​​(Bouches-du-Rhône), who has just resigned from the vice-presidency of the LREM group, as well as Cédric Villani, party in dissent for the Paris town hall during the municipal elections in March

In this future 9th group would be “related” walkers like Hubert Julien-Laferrière (Rhône), non-registered like Martine Wonner, ex-LREM from Bas-Rhin, excluded from the LREM group this week for having voted against the deconfinement plan , Paula Forteza (French abroad), or the ecologist Delphine Batho.

An initiative postponed by the Covid-19 crisis

This group, long anticipated but never materialized until then, would be formed on the initiative of the ecologist Matthieu Orphelin, former deputy walker of Maine-et-Loire, member today member of the group "Liberties and territories" at Assembly.

The initiative could have seen the light of day after the municipal elections, but the coronavirus crisis stopped it altogether. The deconfinement has apparently lifted the brakes. Now in the pipeline, the group could form the week of June 11 or, at the latest, June. The "charter" of the new parliamentary group would revolve around ecology, democracy and social and territorial inequalities.

Since the start of the health crisis, several LREM elected officials were outraged at the StopCovid digital tracking application project. They have also been heard scrapping the Assembly voting procedure, imposed immediately after the speech by Edouard Philippe revealing his plan to end containment on April 28. This vote, assured some unhappy deputies of the majority, "did not allow parliamentarians, elected members of the nation, to organize themselves so that each deputy could make his voice heard and vote". "The government puts us in a very delicate situation," said Guillaume Chiche.

Guerini surprised by "the timing"

"I have not yet been seized with the slightest information relating to a desire to leave certain members of the group", do we want to temper, however, in the entourage of Gilles Le Gendre, president of the LREM group at the Palais Bourbon. In "macronie", we are also working to minimize the real political impact of this possible 9th group. "Even without an absolute majority, we can count on the 46 deputies of the MoDem and the 9 elected members of Agir", underlines a deputy LREM.

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"The timing surprises me, three days before deconfinement, a decisive moment for the country," declared Stanislas Guerini, LREM deputy from Paris and patron of the presidential party to Parisian. But I'm waiting to see the precise configuration of this group. Will he be in the majority, in opposition or in a position of ni-ni? In this case, it is not useless for the majority to have some sort of political airlock on our left. "

On the executive side, some even say they are relieved. "It will clarify the situation and avoid the discordant and rebellious voices that were raised too often among the majority," blows the right arm of a minister.

In the majority ... or the opposition?

What will be the real importance of this group? Within the group “Liberties and Territories”, tipped to be the other breeding ground of this new parliamentary “force”, one wonders. Its managers, who for several months have been trying to create an ecological pole of opposition, are astonished. “Why not integrate into our group? Two weeks ago, I was asked to be part of this new group, but I refused, says François-Michel Lambert (Bouches-du-Rhône). I do not believe that the twenty members of our group join him, because the break with Emmanuel Macron is our line. But they do not assume it clearly. They are even very vague on the subject. "

In fact, while being very critical, Matthieu Orphelin nevertheless voted for the deconfinement plan presented by the Prime Minister. From there to feed all the speculations as to the real purpose of this 9th group. “The head of state is struggling to gain credibility in the ecological field. This new group, with the maneuver the former right hand of Nicolas Hulot (Editor's note: Matthieu Orphelin) , is in fact provoked by the head of state, insinuates a macronist deputy. He can rely on him to vote on texts like the future tax on air transport and make believe in a real ecological turning point on his part. None of its members said that they wanted to register the group in the opposition. For the time being.