Imagine. Jordan Bardella and Manuel Bompard are in the same room for 12 hours. Around a gravlax salmon, the president of the RN and the national coordinator of LFI remake the world, discuss the riots and evoke their tracks to “remake Nation”. It seemed unimaginable; it happened, however, this Wednesday, August 30! The President of the Republic managed to bring together, until 3 a.m., all the political forces represented in the National Assembly and the Senate. And no door slammed; the atmosphere was even, conversely, according to several participants, “cordial”, “respectful” and “serious”.
All the conditions were met. The peaceful setting of the education house of the Legion of Honor in Saint-Denis – where Bardella passed his baccalaureate – far from the tumult of the Palais-Bourbon and a good distance from the Élysée. The new format, then: total camera, without collaborators, without ministers and without telephones – the guests were asked to leave them in a box before the exchanges and jammers had been installed. Finally, the themes of the discussions, rather consensual.
“Talking about the international situation from the start helps to calm the debates”, notes those around Eric Ciotti, who was slightly late due to traffic jams – an important security device had been put in place. From 3 p.m., and for a little less than four hours, there was talk of the war in Ukraine, the series of putschs in Africa, the Maghreb, the Middle East, our relations with Germany and with Algeria. “Macron was jostled by Ciotti and Philippe, who both asked him to suspend the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968”, slips a guest.
The sixteen participants also spoke at length about the dramatic situation of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. “It’s the only international subject on which we all agreed,” says Fabien Roussel, recalling that there are still important “nuances” on Ukraine. The President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, was the first to evoke the fate of these people trapped by the Azerbaijani blockade, then all the party leaders took the floor. Emmanuel Macron told them that he would soon take “an initiative”.
After a short break, around 7:30 p.m., discussions resumed on the reform of institutions and decentralization, in particular. Unsurprisingly, Manuel Bompard reiterated his call for a “VIe République”, which the movement he coordinates has been calling for for years. The two representatives of the Republicans, Ciotti and Larcher, responded to him by launching into a (long) defense of the Ve. “There was no imposed speaking time, no timing. It allowed frank exchanges, sometimes familiar, but endless. We didn’t leave at 3:30 by chance. Our speeches often lasted 15 minutes,” said a party leader, who slept no more than three hours. The night was even shorter for the two who ventured to do a morning show the next day: Ciotti and Roussel only slept an hour.
The Nupes representatives, who had sworn to boycott the dinner, finally stayed. It was served at 9:30 p.m. in another room, where the discussions continued. On the menu: gravlax salmon, roast guinea fowl supreme and garden vegetables, mushroom casserole, cheeses and red fruits. A glass of red wine was offered as an accompaniment. Not a big banquet, then, but a “working dinner” that allows everyone to listen to others, according to the proverb that Roussel likes to quote: “Hungry belly has no ears.” “Some had so much to say that they ate cold!” laughs the national secretary of the PCF. The third theme – “Making Nation” – was not discussed until half past midnight…
The question of the referendum was obviously raised. Éric Ciotti and Jordan Bardella have again proposed the organization of a referendum on immigration. Emmanuel Macron replied to them that he was not in favor of it but that he agreed to start work on a proposal from LR: the extension, or even the overhaul, of Article 11 of the Constitution, which governs the subjects that can be submitted to referendum (organization of public authorities and reforms related to economic, social and environmental issues). But, in general, “on the very idea of ??a referendum, Macron and Philippe were quite reserved,” according to someone close to Ciotti. “The referendum is brutal”, would even have dropped the head of state, who nevertheless said in the great back-to-school interview he gave to Point that he “intends to use it”.
Surprisingly, the president broke away from the idea of ??”preferendum” put into the atmosphere in recent days by government spokesman Olivier Véran. “It’s not my idea. I don’t know what it is,” he said. The representatives of Nupes, who arrived together in Saint-Denis, regretted that social issues were not discussed until 2 a.m. “The question of purchasing power, which is the main priority of the French, comes last. It’s Lunar! If we hadn’t stayed to impose this subject, we might not have talked about it at all, complains Manuel Bompard. And he answers no to all our proposals on inflation. It’s grotesque. If he wanted to know our proposals, he could have taken the trouble to read our programs. “The organization of a social conference on careers and branches below the minimum wage”, the only concrete commitment of these 12 hours of conclave, was only decided at the end.
In fact, these 12 hours of almost uninterrupted exchanges leave all the political opposition forces pensive. Ciotti “waits to see”, Bardella too, Olivier Faure says he has the impression of having attended a “date between the right and the right” and Marine Tondelier says she is “disappointed” to have had to “fight to put the ‘ecology on the table’.
