The resigning Minister for Industry, Roland Lescure, told Libération that he does not wish to continue the adventure within the future Michel Barnier government. While emphasizing “the political equation that accompanies his nomination”, he warned: “if we have to go and pick from the RN program, it will be without me.”
In the resigning government, some would like to remain in charge under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier (LR). Others do not. This is the case of Roland Lescure who made this known in an interview with Libération, published online this Sunday, September 8.
The resigning Minister for Industry is not really enthusiastic about the appointment of Michel Barnier. “It’s not a question of person,” he says, deploring however that the latter led a “right-wing” campaign during the LR primary in 2021.
“RN solutions cannot be part of the equation”
“But the main thing is elsewhere: it is the political equation that accompanies his nomination,” specifies the deputy representing the French of North America, moreover elected vice-president of the Assembly in July.
And for good reason: Michel Barnier is “under surveillance” by the RN, to use Marine Le Pen’s words. In other words, his government cannot hold if the extreme right decides, like the left, to censor him.
Faced with the temptation to satisfy the RN on certain measures in order not to be overthrown, Roland Lescure warns: “the solutions of the National Rally cannot be part of the equation. If we have to pick from the RN’s program, it will be without me.”
The Macronist lists his red lines. “When I hear Michel Barnier talking, during the LR primary in 2021, about a ‘moratorium’ on immigration or the elimination of State Medical Aid, I respond: let’s preserve economic immigration, let’s preserve AME,” he declares.
An interview that sums up well the political dilemma facing the new Prime Minister: ensuring that the extreme right does not censor him, while garnering the support of the former majority.