It is 8:26 p.m. when the sentence falls, fatal. “For the motion, 331”. Michel Barnier gets up and leaves the hemicycle fleetingly. In an instant, he has just become the second Prime Minister censored under the Fifth Republic, after only three months in office.
The Palais Bourbon has just experienced a day unlike any other, suspended by an inevitable motion of censure, which plunges the country into deeper uncertainty.
Until the end, Michel Barnier tried to convince, dissecting the reproaches of each of his critics with argument and patience. “Institutional destabilization”, “moment of truth”… But faced with such a fractured Assembly, faced with a left and a National Rally determined to bring it down, no words could be enough.
Because the mass had been said for a long time. The long ovation from the central block to the Savoyard was the final signal: the scene above all resembled a farewell ceremony. The Prime Minister, ” touch “was also unable to repress a movement of his hand towards his heart, as if to say « merci ».
Stunned, heads bowed, the ministers finally emerge from their torpor and stand up to applaud their leader in turn. But the failure is bitter: everyone, or almost, knows that they are preparing to pack up, after a break of only three short months.
With his eyes glued to his smartphone, Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin perhaps sees the hundreds of hours spent in the Assembly and the Senate defending the budgetary texts, finally sanctioned on the first 49.3 of autumn.
Between solemnity and outbursts of anger, the afternoon in the hemicycle will have summarized all the political impasse of the moment. With the maneuver, a concentrated and serious Marine Le Pen, who annotated her speech at length before delivering the blow, supported by 140 convinced parliamentarians.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon couldn’t miss that either: discreetly, he sneaked into the stands, among the spectators, to observe his rival’s speech. A little earlier, the rebellious leader took his satisfied look into the Assembly gardens. And dared a joke: “Is there anything today?” »
“Shudder”
Looking at the commotion taking place at the Palais Bourbon, there is no doubt that something was definitely happening.
Dozens of TV teams have been in place since the morning, international journalists who have come to cover this unique event for more than 60 years are busy and jostling. Miki Hashimoto, Japanese reporter, is “only come twice in 30 years”. More “the situation is exceptional: it is the tremor of what is happening throughout the world”she said.
2nd motion of censure adopted under the 5th Republic / Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Paz PIZARRO / AFP
The bailiffs and Palace agents are sweating profusely. We even had to remove furniture to make room. In the staff, “no one has experienced censorship before”recognizes one of them. “We are breaking all records”said an administrator.
The parliamentarians wander in the middle of this outpouring. The triumphant air of Laure Lavalette (RN), who multiplies the interviews, responds to the serious expression of Gabriel Attal (Renaissance), who runs at full speed towards the hemicycle.
“Sowers of chaos”
“We are living a small part of history”slips RN Thomas Ménage. L’Insoumis Eric Coquerel goes further: “We are making history”. During the session, the invectives fly. LFI? « Che-guevaristes de carnaval »says Marine Le Pen. The lepenists? Of the “sowers of chaos”thunders Laurent Wauquiez (Les Républicains).
But in the corridors, everyone is already planning on what comes next. The sentence? It seemed irrevocable for several days. So the future is to be written.
“We need to open the game”says green MP Pouria Amirshahi, in a doorway, surrounded by five journalists who are scribbling in their notebooks. A little further, the spokesperson for the socialist group, Arthur Delaporte, pleads for “alternation”that the “macronists come out of denial”.
Gérald Darmanin is glued to his phone, François Hollande patiently waits on the bright red benches of the lower house.
In the government camp, it is also time for hugs and thanks. In public in the hemicycle, but also in private: during the voting operations, the ministers disappeared for a time. At Matignon, a farewell party awaited them.
