Censorship: Michel Barnier's seduction operation begins this Monday with Marine Le Pen

C’is a crucial week ahead for Michel Barnier. From this Monday, November 25, the Prime Minister will receive the various leaders of opposition parliamentary groups from the left and the far right who threaten to censor him. And the ball of receptions begins at 8:30 a.m. with Marine Le Pen who, since the indictments at her trial on her assistants at the European Parliament, has raised her voice against the government.

For the former presidential candidate, the equation is simple: the threat to bring down the government will only be carried out if the purchasing power of the French is a victim of the 2025 budget project.

In addition to this red line, the leader of the National Rally deputies also expects the Prime Minister to respect his commitment. The latter had announced that opposition groups could recognize elements in his budget that seemed essential to them. “We, our elements, we gave them: it was not to increase taxes on individuals, not to increase taxes on entrepreneurs, not to make retirees pay, to make structural savings on operating expenses of the State,” she said on RTL.

Barnier “creates the conditions for censorship”

If the vote on a motion of censure has not yet been decided within the ranks of the RN, this could still take the path. “Until today, Michel Barnier creates the conditions for censorship,” assured Sébastien Chenu on LCI.

The vice-president of the National Rally does not seem convinced by the strategy of the tenant of Matignon. “We don't buy political opponents with junk. It is not by erasing two or three little things at the margin that Michel Barnier is going to change the logic of his budget,” he snapped. For him, the RN demands one thing: a political break with Emmanuel Macron's line. “Michel Barnier did not initiate this rupture. And it shows in its budget,” he continued.

ALSO READ Will censor, will not censor? The question that panics at the top of the StateBecause the points of disagreement are numerous, according to him: “pensions”, “the seven days worked for free”, “the increase in electricity”, “the increase in France's contribution to the European Union”, ” the automobile penalty”, “the increase in notary fees” or the absence of savings on “the State’s millefeuille” and on “immigration”, listed Sébastien Chenu. “Nothing was held back,” he snapped.

However, he wanted to be reassuring. “We must not scare the French for nothing,” he replied to Maud Bregeon, government spokesperson, who predicted a “Greek-style scenario” in the event of censorship on the budget. “If there is no budget, then the National Assembly, and the RN by taking its responsibilities, will vote for what is called a special law which allows civil servants to be paid and to ensure that until following budget, the economy is turning, obviously, so that there is not what we call in English “shutdown”, he said.

A week of meetings

The challenge therefore promises to be significant for Michel Barnier, who will also receive, this Monday, Mathilde Panot, leader of the rebellious deputies, as well as Stéphane Séjourné, president of the Liot group (Libertés, independents, overseas and territories) and Éric Ciotti, ally of the RN and president of the UDR group (Union of Rights for the Republic).

ALSO READ “Contempt”, “morgue”: Barnier’s dilemma vis-à-vis the RN
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Kangaroo of the day

Answer

Like every week, the Prime Minister will see the group leaders of his government from the right and the center on Tuesday morning, together.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Prime Minister will meet with the socialist group leaders, Boris Vallaud for the Assembly and Patrick Kanner for the Senate, and environmentalists, Cyrielle Chatelain for the Assembly and Guillaume Gontard for the Senate. Finally, on Thursday morning, he will receive those from the Communist Party, André Chassaigne for the Assembly and Cécile Cukierman for the Senate.