For the first time this Wednesday, Gabriel Attal experimented with the new format of Questions to the Government, in a single stage. “Well, that doesn’t change anything,” we could hear in the corridors of the Palais-Bourbon at the end of this first unprecedented 45-minute face-to-face meeting between the Prime Minister and the deputies.
“Delighted to be able to experiment with this new format”, Gabriel Attal explained at the outset, in front of the deputies, that he “always accepted the proposals which are made to (him) regarding the accounts to be rendered as Prime Minister vis-à-vis towards the national representation and the press”.
Tested until the end of May, this new formula had been validated with the support of the Renaissance Macronists, the right and the extreme right. But without the left which feared a “show” from the Prime Minister, nor the allies of the presidential camp Horizons and MoDem.
A “fiasco”
A “fiasco” in the eyes of PCF boss Fabien Roussel because Gabriel Attal “cannot answer all the questions on such a vast field”. “It is contempt for Parliament which has the mission of controlling the action of the government,” he said, comparing the session to a “propaganda exercise”.
For MoDem deputy Erwan Balanant, this alone on stage “diminishes the role of everyone: the role of parliamentarians to have precise answers to questions and the role of ministers”. The new formula does not “go in the direction of Parliament” but “even more in the direction of concentration”.
Gabriel Attal did not make any announcements but reaffirmed that "never" the government would increase taxation on "French people who work" or "the fruit of their savings", while the increase in taxes to reduce the deficit divides its majority.
“A bad show”
“We have a show, but we have a bad show,” lamented the president of the Ecologist group in the Assembly Cyrielle Chatelain. “We have formal answers, but very few substantive answers,” she added, fearing that the head of government would use this platform as a “campaign space”.
Gabriel Attal alone in front of the deputies: "We have a show, but a bad show", deplores the president of the "Ecologist" group in the National Assembly @Cyrielle_Chtl.
“We have formal answers, we have very few substantive answers.”#DirectAN #QAG pic.twitter.com/aNCYmQlcgj
— LCP (@LCP) April 3, 2024
“I wonder if it’s not going to make people shudder,” wondered the leader of the deputies of the centrist group Liot Bertrand Pancher, although he was in favor of the new formula. He regretted the “very general and not technical enough” responses while parliamentarians “wait for precise responses to which ministers could undoubtedly respond better”.
The exercise was inspired by that of “Prime Minister's Questions” in the British House of Commons. As is the tradition of questions to the government, the subjects chosen by the opposition were not revealed in advance. The speakers, on the other hand, were known in advance, but were not group leaders. The Prime Minister's entourage stressed that it was still a “week of running-in”.
Unemployment, level groups, finances
Basically, the session only awoke with questions from the most radical parties, such as that of Sébastien Chenu (RN) who castigated the government's "flute tune" on public finances which "does not there is nothing enchanting for the Mozarts of finance.” “With you, it would be the twilight of retirement and enchanted debt. This is the program of the National Rally,” replied Gabriel Attal, while Marine Le Pen, leader of the RN deputies, shouted “you are the ruin” and the Renaissance deputies applauded the head of government.
When Gabriel Attal defended the level groups at school “a profoundly social measure”, the deputies of France Insoumise became agitated. “No one wants it,” said Antoine Léaument. “There’s no point in trying to scream to stop me from speaking,” the Prime Minister replied, still applauded by his camp.
A short exchange on the unemployment rate also pitted Gabriel Attal against Adrien Quatennens when the LFI deputy attacked the new unemployment insurance reform that even some in the majority contest. The head of government defended a “social model that is more encouraging to activity”.
Sébastien Chenu subsequently found the exercise “successful” because “we are in direct contact with the one who decides” but who “deserves a little oil in the cogs”.