Michel Barnier recalled Tuesday in the Council of Ministers “his intangible attachment to the rule of law”, non-compliance with which is a “red line” for the Prime Minister, reported government spokesperson Maud Brégeon after statements of the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau.
Coming from the conservative wing of the Republicans (LR), Michel Barnier’s party, Mr. Retailleau aroused numerous criticisms within the presidential camp and on the left after declaring that the rule of law was “not intangible, nor sacred”.
The new Minister of the Interior regretted “false debates” on Tuesday morning, specifying that the rule of law was “the foundation of (the) Republic”.
In the Council of Ministers on Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister “recalled his intangible attachment to the rule of law”, reported government spokesperson Maud Brégeon during the Council report.
“It is unthinkable to call into question (the rule of law) even by an inch.” “This is the framework (that Michel Barnier) has set and will continue to set for the entire government,” added Ms. Brégeon.
“Which does not mean that the law, the state of the law, which is not the same thing, is fixed,” the government spokesperson also declared.
Within Emmanuel Macron’s camp, several personalities, including the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet or the former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, have contested this position of the new Minister of the Interior, which illustrates the tensions within the government of Michel Barnier where the Macronists coexist with the right.
But “the subject of the protection and security of the French is too serious and too serious to be exploited by false debates”, judged Mr. Retailleau on Tuesday in a press release.
“We must face reality, we owe it to the French as Michel Barnier reminded us: today, the law does not sufficiently protect the French.” “When the texts in force no longer guarantee all rights – starting with the first of them, the right to be protected – they must evolve, with full respect for the institutions of our Republic,” continues Mr. Retailleau .
“This is what the French are asking of us and what we will do under the authority of the Prime Minister,” he concluded.
Before this clarification, Minister LR had also attracted criticism from the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Rémy Heitz. “The rule of law is fundamental, which does not mean that we cannot change the law”, but “we must not touch the rule of law and we must even reinforce it”, asserted M . Heitz.
“There really is a fundamental principle there. The rule of law is a bit like freedom: we must not regret it when we have lost it,” he continued.
