Has Michel Barnier finally found the formula to create a link between parliamentarians of the “common base”? After the aperitifs of the minister responsible for relations with Parliament, Nathalie Delattre, and the transpartisan breakfasts of the Government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, the Prime Minister is preparing to bring together the deputies in an intergroup, committee by committee. of the four games. who support their government. On Wednesday, November 13, the elected representatives of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Ensemble pour la République (EPR, Renaissance group), MoDem, Horizons and the Republican Right (Les Républicains, LR group), inaugurate the series of meetings with a first breakfast around the tenant of the rue de Varenne.
The initiative comes as heated debates over the budget highlight the divisions of the “common base”, the circumstantial allies of his governing coalition, and fuel criticism against the head of government. “Being on the Assembly benches? So that, strikes down the (renaissance) deputy for Moselle Ludovic Mendès. We thus discover the text of the budget and then, when we are worried, we do not have the impression of being listened to… It is the method that is wrong. »
This demobilization is reflected in symbolic defeats, the most visible of which was the approval, on Monday, November 4, in a public session, of the income component of the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS), largely rewritten by the left. In particular, a victory for the elected representatives of the New Popular Front on pension reform. Rebelote Friday, November 8: The National Assembly once again adopted an anthology of taxes (penalty for noisy two-wheeled vehicles, tax on share buybacks, etc.) under the leadership of the left and the National Rally and in against the opinion of the government.
“Turn the other cheek”
“Under the pretext of letting the debate take place, we are giving a formidable platform to our oppositions. Is it necessary to receive a slap and then turn the other cheek? », blames the (renaissance) Oise deputy Eric Woerth, irritated, like most of his colleagues, because the Prime Minister has not so far resorted to article 49.3 of the Constitution (which allows the adoption of a text without a vote) to put end to debates.
At Matignon we protest against this process carried out according to the Barnier method, accused of not intervening enough to avoid the cacophony that reigns in the National Assembly. And for not working hard enough to solidify their relative majority. His entourage replies that the Prime Minister has attended at least one meeting of each “common core” group in recent weeks. And he meets every week in Matignon with the presidents of the groups that support him, we insist.
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