The battle between Wauquiez and Attal over the commission chairs cost the Macronists a place

POLITICS – Whoever goes hunting loses his place, and the NFP benefits. The election of three new presidents for the committees of the National Assembly ended this Wednesday, October 9 in a setback for the Ensemble pour la République (EPR) camp and a surprise victory for the New Popular Front.

At the end of the 2024 legislative elections, the political groups shared the chairs of several strategic commissions in July. Paul Christophe, Horizons MP, was elected head of the Social Affairs Committee; Antoine Armand, EPR deputy, for Economic Affairs and Jean-Noël Barrot (MoDem) for Foreign Affairs. Problem: in the fall, the three joined the Barnier government, leaving their places vacant.

This Wednesday, October 9, the MPs who are members of the committees therefore had to choose their replacements. The negotiations had started well before. In recent weeks, several press stories have recounted tensions between the Droite Républicaine (DR) group of Laurent Wauquiez and the EPR group of Gabriel Attal. At issue: the calling into question of an agreement concluded in the summer and which had allowed the Macronists and allies to secure three presidencies out of eight, with the blessing of the right.

MoDem and Horizons retain a presidency, Guedj tackles LFI

But three months later, Laurent Wauquiez saw bigger things. The DR leader demanded a commission presidency in the same way as his new allies of the “ common base » government and left the threat of presenting three candidates against those of the macronie, to block their path. Finally, DR presented two candidates.

The first finally withdrew in favor of MoDem deputy Bruno Fuchs, elected head of the Foreign Affairs Commission to replace MoDem minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Without damage therefore for the party of François Bayrou which retains the head of a commission.

The Social Affairs Committee also remained within the fold of Édouard Philippe’s Horizons party, with the election of Frédéric Valletoux to replace Paul Christophe. On the left, the socialist candidate Jérôme Guedj was however indignant at not having had the support of the LFI deputies who “prefer to vote blank than for me against the former Minister of Health (Horizons)”he wrote on against Israel.

The pin Found in the Attal-Wauquiez game, Barnier worried

On the other hand, the election of the president of the Economic Affairs Committee turned into a public confrontation between EPR and DR. At least four candidates were in the running: the EPR deputy Stéphane Travert, the rebellious Aurélie Trouvé, the RN Frédéric Flacon and the DR Julien Dive. After two unsuccessful rounds, MP Julien Dive finally withdrew his candidacy for the third.

Enough to ensure a transfer of votes to the EPR candidate? Not really. “What was decided yesterday in the group meeting was to maintain the candidacy (of Dive) until the end. So de facto not to vote for EPR”Laurent Wauquiez’s entourage informed franceinfo. “ The common base is support for the government. For the rest, there is only a basis when there is an agreement. EPR did not want to come to an agreement, that is the consequence”, we add from the same source. Result ? In the third round, most of the elected DR abstained and one voted for the rebellious Aurélie Trouvé according to a statement from Julien Dive to the press at the end of the vote. Aurélie Trouvé was therefore elected with 27 votes, ahead of the Macronist candidate Stéphane Travert (25 votes) and the RN candidate Frédéric Falcon (14 votes).

Rebellious France is exulting, but on the side of Ensemble pour la République, it’s a cold shower. In a message to his parliamentary group, Gabriel Attal deplored that “ Laurent Wauquiez’s group has chosen to favor the election of the rebellious Aurélie Trouvé to the detriment of our colleague Stéphane Travert. » “I am, like each and every one of you, revolted and deeply sorry for Stéphane, for the National Assembly and for the country”declared the former Prime Minister. “With the Republican vote this morning in the Economic Affairs Committee, I have no qualms about voting for the next motion of censure that will be tabled”also slammed Côtes-d’Armor MP Éric Bothorel on X, attaching to his message an evocative image: that of a shooter cocking his rifle.

Proof that the affair is not trivial, the head of government Michel Barnier was himself moved by it. The Prime Minister announced “its concern regarding the solidarity of the different entities of the base which was not met”, said those around him. Ten days before the arrival of the finance bill in the chamber, the signal is indeed enough to make the head of government sweat.

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