LFI deputy Thomas Portes was sanctioned on Wednesday by the office of the National Assembly for “threatening and insulting” remarks made in the hemicycle during a question session with the government.
The Bureau of the Assembly, after hearing Thomas Portes, chose by 11 votes to 2 and one abstention to impose a call to order on him with entry in the minutes, the second possible sanction on a scale of four.
The decision was taken by the highest executive body of the lower house, which brings together the vice-presidents, quaestors and secretaries around the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet. The latter criticized in a press release “threatening and insulting remarks” by the deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis.
He was notably accused of having said: “shut your mouth, you. We'll take care of you. We're going to explain ourselves outside, you'll see”, addressed to the benches of the National Rally. The scene took place on October 30, during a question to the government from his groupmate Nathalie Oziol on the Middle East.
Several sources in the LFI group responded by pointing out questions coming from the benches of the RN to which Thomas Portes would have responded, and in particular from the deputy Laurent Jacobelli who had described the LFI deputies as “spokespersons for Hamas”.
According to several parliamentary sources, representatives of the common base, Liot, a PS and an environmentalist spoke out in favor of the sanction. LFI spoke out against and the representative of the GDR group (communists and overseas) abstained. This sanction involves deprivation for one month of a quarter of the parliamentary allowance, or 1,482.99 euros.
“Insults and threats have no place in the chamber of the National Assembly. The deputies have a duty to set an example and must show themselves worthy of the mandate entrusted to them by the French,” said Yaël Braun-Pivet in his press release, stressing that Thomas Portes had already been sanctioned in the past. “Freedom of expression is essential but cannot excuse threats towards other deputies,” also said Sophie Pantel, socialist deputy and member of the office.
