A “place of reflection”, called “Popular”, proposals and a new warning on taxes: Gérald Darmanin went on the offensive again during his political return on Sunday in Tourcoing (North), two days before the declaration of general policy by Michel Barnier.
The former Minister of the Interior, not retained in the Barnier government despite his desire for the Quai d’Orsay, organized for the second year a political comeback in his stronghold of Tourcoing. With a field of choice, mixing the presidential camp and the right, his original camp: Gabriel Attal and Xavier Bertrand – who left after lunch –, Hervé Marseille, Édouard Philippe and even Élisabeth Borne.
On the Barnier government side, ministers Sébastien Lecornu (Armies), Maud Bregeon (spokesperson) and Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Ecological Transition) made the trip under the northern sun.
As he did last week, Mr. Darmanin sent a severe warning to Michel Barnier on taxation.
“I support the government of Michel Barnier appointed by the President of the Republic.” “But I know that many of us will not be able to support a government that would increase taxes: that would be contrary to everything positive that we have done for the French,” he said.
“I understand that this tax increase would only concern the wealthiest French people, but the money of the wealthiest must go into job creation, not into public coffers,” argued the former minister.
On Friday, Michel Barnier promised to protect “from any tax increase” those “who work, who produce”, and mentioned an “exceptional and temporary” contribution from “those who can contribute” to the effort to restore public finances, then that the public deficit risks exceeding 6% of gross domestic product this year.
This weekend, 27 EPR deputies, the presidential group in the Assembly, published a text in La Tribune to oppose any increase in taxes and call for continued reforms in favor of full employment (around 5% against 7.3% currently), such as that of unemployment insurance.
“Preference to workers”
Mr. Darmanin also announced the creation of a “place of reflection, which everyone can join”, called “Populaires”. It is neither a political party nor a movement within the presidential Renaissance party, his entourage clarified.
“Our immense responsibility is to write, for the future, the social story of the central bloc,” explained the elected official from the North, for whom this “central bloc” is “at odds with modest people, popular French people, workers”.
However, “no one can accept the democratic shipwreck of popular France which throws itself into the arms of the community demagoguery of the extremes which divide us, leaving the little white people to vote for Le Pen and the little Beur to vote for Gaza”, he said.
Mr. Darmanin also distilled some proposals, starting with the “preference for workers” which he opposes to the “national preference” of the National Rally, the elimination of the activity bonus which would be transformed into reductions in charges to fuel a “reasonable increase in the minimum wage”, the creation of a 1% disability based on the 1% housing model…
The former minister also wants the government to quickly implement the single social payment, Emmanuel Macron’s campaign promise in 2022, which he wants to see limited to 75% of the minimum wage “so that never again, not working pays as much than the effort of working”.
The exit of Mr. Darmanin illustrates the contradictions of the presidential group Ensemble pour la République (Renaissance) chaired by Gabriel Attal, the first force of support for Mr. Barnier in Parliament, but destabilized by having had to cede Matignon and important ministries to the RIGHT. Summoned to endorse the solution concocted by Emmanuel Macron to prevent the left from accessing Matignon but unwilling to see the results of the action carried out since 2017 unraveled. And torn between an enthusiastic right wing and certain historical Macronists worried about this news stage of the rightization of macronism.
Will the unity of the presidential camp resist this new type of cohabitation? At the same time, in Guidel (Morbihan), François Bayrou’s MoDem, which held its summer universities, offered a choice platform… to Bernard Cazeneuve.
Enough to fuel the nostalgia of the many executives in the presidential camp who would have preferred to see the former socialist Prime Minister appointed to Matignon.
And the centrist party took the opportunity to send some warnings to the Prime Minister, in particular on proportional representation which it has been demanding for years and for which Mr. Bayrou has not ruled out the use of a shared initiative referendum.
