A consensus on Ukraine, a future “social conference” and debates on the referendums: the unprecedented summit between Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of the parties left skeptical oppositions but ended, late at night, on the prospect of a new appointment.
The discussions behind closed doors began Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, and did not end until after 3:00 a.m. Thursday: twelve hours of discussions on the international situation, the institutions and the “cohesion of the Nation” after the early summer riots.
At the end of the summit, Emmanuel Macron said that he would “send in the coming days a letter summarizing the exchanges and the proposed work titles, which everyone can amend, to continue” the discussions, according to his entourage.
“Everyone has already agreed to meet again on the same format, under the same conditions, for a next working session”, we added from the same source, without a date having already been set. .
A follow-up government seminar will also be held on September 6.
First to appear before the media at the end of this meeting, the president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella spoke of the “frank” debates, but said he was “unable” to specify what they would lead to.
“There is no conclusion at this time,” he said.
The leader of the far-right party claimed to have told Emmanuel Macron “that the pension reform had obviously created a gap between him and the French” and that a referendum on immigration, which he is calling for, was the ” only effective measure”.
Arrived in groups of four at the start of the afternoon, the leaders of Nupes were only three in front of the cameras at the end of the meeting, in the absence of the number one communist Fabien Roussel.
“We came, we saw and we were disappointed”, said the head of the ecologists Marie Tondelier, while Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise, dropped by his side having had “the impression of living 12 hours on the planet Mars”, faced with an interlocutor who is not “ready to hear” the proposals of the left.
“We are far from the big night,” added the boss of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, who described a President of the Republic who “was engulfed in the proposals of the right”. The only positive point in his eyes, a presidential commitment to a “salary conference”, which the left alliance demanded.
The president’s entourage confirmed that he had “validated” the principle of organizing a “social conference” on “careers and branches below the minimum wage”.
Very courted by Macronie, which often depends on the votes of the right in the Assembly in the absence of an absolute majority since 2022, the boss of the Les Républicains party Eric Ciotti has not spoken publicly.
According to an executive from the presidential camp, the discussions on the international situation were “constructive”, with a consensus on support for Ukraine. And those on the institutions showed that the need for “modernization” to “involve citizens more” was “shared” by all.
On the Elysée side, we salute “a great political moment, a great moment of unity, recognition and responsibility”, believing that Emmanuel Macron’s “outstretched hand” had been “fruitful” in view of the duration of the exchanges.
For twelve hours, nothing had filtered: the press was kept away and the participants had to part with their phones.
This “major political initiative” promised by Emmanuel Macron before the summer break aims to build “together” legislative texts and pave the way, “if necessary”, for referendums, according to the presidential invitation letter.
All the leaders of the parties represented in Parliament had accepted the invitation, but with suspicion on the side of the opposition, which suspects the head of state of above all seeking to relaunch a struggling five-year term.
The opposition parties presented proposals for referendums on their hobbyhorses: immigration on the right and on the far right, pension reform on the Nupes side. End of inadmissibility of the president on this last point, according to the leaders of the left.
Moreover, with regard to the referendum, the only point of agreement at this stage was to deepen the debate on the possibility of widening its scope, explained the entourage of the Head of State. .
Discussions must also continue on other topics such as ecological planning or decentralization.
08/31/2023 05:26:12 – Saint-Denis (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
