during the handover, Prisca Thevenot’s dig at Bruno Retailleau

An emotional moment for some, the transfer of power was an opportunity for other former ministers to express their disagreements with the new government, unveiled this Saturday. It must be said that with ten ministers from the Republicans (LR), Michel Barnier’s team gives pride of place to the right. Also, on Monday at midday, during the handover with Maud Bregeon, the former Renaissance spokesperson for the government, Prisca Thevenot, took the opportunity to mark her opposition to the line of the new Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, on immigration. Adherent to a very firm policy on the subject, the leader of the LR senators had distinguished himself by his inflexibility during the debate on the immigration bill, in December 2023. Engaging in a real showdown with the government, the Vendéen had managed, with his own people, to force the presidential camp to give in and to introduce proposals defended by his political family.

Also readMacronists, LR… What are the major balances of the Barnier government?

In response to this nomination criticized within the central bloc, Prisca Thevenot wanted “remember that immigration, if it is perfectly supervised and controlled, is always an opportunity for our country”. And the Hauts-de-Seine MP added, without naming Bruno Retailleau: “We recalled that there are no French people on paper, but simply French people.”The expression had already been used by the new tenant of Place Beauvau in July 2022, in a Twitter post, since renamed X: “Some people are offended by the expression “French on paper”. Yes, there are French citizens who have applied for naturalization and who say “Fuck France” while receiving benefits. Who can say that this does not exist? Stop the denial and the hypocrisy.”

To support her argument, the Macronist, born to Mauritian parents, highlighted her own family history. “My name is Prisca Thevenot. (…) But I am also called Prisca Balasoobramanen. I am the daughter of two immigrants who taught me to love France, respect our Republic and choose silence in the face of controversy. I am proof that one can be binational and deeply French patriotic,” she added. A speech that echoes that of the former Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, during his transfer of power with Bruno Retailleau, earlier in the day. “My name is Gérald Moussa Jean Darmanin. My father wanted to write Moussa Darmanin, after my grandfather, an Algerian rifleman who served France. It is quite obvious that if I had been called Moussa Darmanin, I would not have been elected mayor and deputy and I probably would not have been appointed Minister of the Interior in the first place.”he said.