A keen observer of French political life and regular contributor to the FigaroVox, Maxime Tandonnet has notably published
André Tardieu.
The misunderstood
(Perrin, 2019).
FIGAROVOX. - The deputies The Republicans yesterday made the "blow of the curtain", allying with the oppositions of rebellious France and the National Gathering to postpone the vote of the text on the sanitary pass. Is this a snub for the majority? Do you understand the attitude of the LR group, which is nevertheless favorable to the bill?
Maxime TANDONNET. -
The difficulty of the exercise is due to the confusion between the electoral period and health policy.
The vaccination pass, compared to the health pass, is not intended to constitute an additional barrier against contamination (vaccinated people can be contagious unlike people tested negative, who will no longer benefit from the health pass).
It is presented as a "
disguised vaccine obligation
”And recognized as such. Its objective is to increase the constraints on the 5 to 6 million unvaccinated to force them to be vaccinated. And this choice is widely approved by a majority opinion haunted by alarmist messages (tidal wave, etc.). The vaccination pass is thus acclaimed by 66% of French people according to an Odexa poll of December 23. Nothing new under the sun: "
This skinny guy, this mangy man from which all their trouble came
" ... Therefore, the postponement of a few hours of the vote on the law is not really a snub for the majority: in a context of great fear, it could even emerge strengthened in the short term, the public supporting it.
Valérie Pécresse spoke on this subject, confirming that the LR group will not oppose the vaccination pass. Why doesn't she just say that the group will vote for the vaccine pass? Is she embarrassed?
LR is in a seemingly rather complicated situation.
76% of its voters are in favor of the vaccination pass ...
Maxime Tandonnet
LR is in an apparently rather complicated situation. 76% of its voters are in favor of the vaccination pass according to the aforementioned survey! In the electoral context, faced with a disoriented opinion, LR undoubtedly does not want to give the image of blocking such a popular decision according to the polls and especially among his own voters. We are still in a period of acute political and health crisis, even if some particularly courageous and lucid doctors, such as Doctors Martin Blachier or Gérald Kierzek, are trying to calm people down and call for collective coolness. LR's line of conduct, it seems to me, is not to oppose the crisis decisions taken by political power so as not to give the feeling of hampering its action. But it is impossible toimpose on a few members of the group, in the name of partisan discipline, a vote to which they are deeply reluctant for sincere convictions.
Some LR elected officials are however firmly opposed to the vaccination pass. Is the party fractured on this issue?
Probably yes.
The outburst of the majority for a vote delayed by a few hours, underlines its determination to drive the point home.
But the LR deputies who individually oppose the vaccine pass make a choice of conviction.
In their eyes, the method of
"disguised obligation
»(Without any precedent) raises questions with regard to the fundamental principles of the Republic. It deprives potential victims of the side effects of a vaccination to which they have been de facto forced, of recourse and reparation. According to their point of view, this disguised obligation fractures France a little more, generates a sub-citizenship or minority deprived of certain rights - which on the whole, is probably not about to give in to what it feels. as a form of blackmail. Furthermore, "
No one may be compelled to do what [the law] does not order"
according to article 5 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.
However, the law does not order vaccination and the vaccination pass thus amounts to punishing 5 to 6 million people without having committed anything illegal ... This is why some members of LR - who, moreover, might have - be in favor of the vaccination obligation of people at risk - oppose the logic of the vaccination pass as a
disguised obligation
.
To read also Maxime Tandonnet: "By what right do we despise the anti-pass?"
Are there two opposing views within LR? The right of order against the right of freedoms?
A conservative, wealthy, elderly and urban electorate lends itself more to benevolence towards the vaccination pass than a young, rural or popular electorate.
Maxime Tandonnet
The divide within LR stems from several parameters and transcends the classic cleavages between liberals and sovereignists. The opposition to the health pass brings together certain deputies attached to the authority of the State (such as Julien Aubert or Olivier Marleix), and those of the liberal and social tendency of the movement (like Philippe Gosselin, Pierre Vatin, Maxime Minot, that is to say his left wing). It is fairly consistent with the fundamentals of the Gaullist party around a strong State on sovereignty and solidarity, but respectful of freedoms. Faced with this "refractory" current, the other tendency which accommodates the vaccination past, is situated in a logic of conformity to the dominant sensitivity. The main thing in the eyes of this accommodating current is not to cut itself off from the 76% of theLR electorate who are in favor. Territorial considerations also play a role: a conservative, wealthy, elderly and urban electorate lends itself more to benevolence towards the vaccination pass, than a young, rural or popular electorate. Roughly speaking, we find the opposition between bourgeois France and peripheral France.
What do you think Valérie Pécresse's attitude should be on this issue?
Opinion today is guided by fear. What will it be in three and a half months? The most unexpected upheavals can occur in a short time and public opinion suddenly changes. In view of the presidential elections, Ms. Valérie Pécresse must especially not let herself be locked in this trapped battle of the vaccine pass. Beyond that, Ms. Pécresse has every interest in defending a health policy compatible with the principles of freedom, equality and fraternity and reaching out to the few "unvaccinated" rather than overwhelming them ever more. The choice of a "macron-compatible" posture, for measures questionable in terms of their effectiveness and the fundamental principles of France, would be suicidal. His chances of being elected President of the Republic are at stake.
