Sharply reprimanded by Michel Barnier (and Marine Le Pen), Antoine Armand forced to reach out to the RN

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First creak in the precarious mechanism supposed to allow the Barnier government to avoid censorship. The new Minister of Economy Antoine Armand, after having deviated from the Matignon line, had to backpedal on Tuesday, September 24, 2024 in the face of Marine Le Pen who criticized him for having ruled out working with the RN.

The exchange of words between the Bercy resident and the head of the RN deputies offered a first illustration of the role of “arbiter of elegance” that the party with the flame and its allies, with a contingent of 142 deputies, intend to play in the new assembly.

And it was the young Savoyard Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, who bore the brunt of this new political situation.

“The RN does not belong to the republican arc”

On France Inter On Tuesday morning, the 33-year-old Macronist first recalled that many deputies had been elected thanks to the Republican front against the RN set up during the legislative elections.

In this regard, Mr. Armand said he was open to collaborating with all parties, “as long as they are within the republican arc.”

That is to say that the National Rally against which we were elected, against which we formed a republican front, does not belong there (to the “republican arc”, editor’s note), we must be very clear about that.

In the corridors of the Palais Bourbon, the reaction of the leader of the far-right party, who claims to want to “weigh” on the Barnier government, was not long in coming.

“Some people still don’t fully understand”

Addressing the head of government directly, Marine Le Pen raised her voice.

“When I hear Mr Armand this morning explaining that his door will always be closed to RN MPs even though we only have the budget coming in, I think that the Prime Minister must go and explain to all of his ministers what his government’s philosophy is, because it seems that some have not yet fully understood,” she grumbled.

For his part, the leader of the Union of the Right for the Republic deputies, Eric Ciotti, allies of the RN, did not fail to follow up, castigating “the belligerent declarations” of Mr. Armand.

According to the elected representative from Alpes-Maritimes, “the Prime Minister then corrected the situation with the president of the National Rally group.”

“We expect” Michel Barnier “to publicly disavow Mr Armand who expressed a sectarianism which is unspeakable, unbearable and marks a very bad start for this government,” Mr Ciotti insisted.

Net backpedaling

In the process, Bercy announced that the Minister of the Economy would indeed receive “all the political forces represented in Parliament” on the subject of the very degraded situation of public finances.

“He will soon invite each group president in this frame of mind to discuss the country’s economic and financial issues,” according to the same source.

A clear backpedaling therefore, undoubtedly preceded by a call to order, while the tacit support of the RN is essential for the Barnier government to avoid the adoption of a motion of censure which will inevitably be tabled by the left.

Faced with this latent danger, Michel Barnier, placed “under surveillance” by the RN, had sent signs of conciliation to Marine Le Pen as soon as she was nominated: “I will meet her, I will see her, I respect her. (…) And I respect nearly 11 million French people who voted for the National Rally,” he had thus affirmed during his first news broadcast on September 6 on TF1.

In Mr. Armand’s entourage, anxious to minimize this first hiccup, it is made known that “Michel Barnier and Antoine Armand are exactly on the same line.” Adding that “during the transfer of power, the Minister of the Economy recalled that his door was open to all those who want to contribute to economic balance.”

With AFP

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