The Minister of Higher Education and Research, Sylvie Retailleau, presented her resignation on Wednesday to Emmanuel Macron, due to a “deep disagreement” on the measures concerning students in the immigration law, but she been “refused”, his entourage announced to Agence France-Presse on Thursday December 21.
This resignation, presented on the sidelines of the council of ministers, “was refused” and the minister will remain “in post”, specified the same source. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, “assured the minister that the measures concerning students” in this law “would be revised if they were not censored by the Constitutional Council”, according to information from Le Figaro. If a minister wishes to leave office, this does not require the approval of the government or the President of the Republic.
Threats of resignation before the adoption of the text
Five ministers had planned to discuss their position and the possibility of resigning if the highly contested text of the “immigration” law was adopted on Tuesday evening, during a dinner at the Ministry of Transport, organized at 8:30 p.m. by Clément Beaune. Sylvie Retailleau (higher education), Roland Lescure (industry), Patrice Vergriete (housing) and Rima Abdul Malak (culture) were among the participants in this meeting.
The Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, for her part denied on Wednesday, on her Instagram account, a possible resignation concerning her. Clément Beaune, Roland Lescure and Patrice Vergriete have not made a statement on this subject since the final adoption of the text. Only Aurélien Rousseau, who was not on the list of participants in this meeting, has since resigned.