‘Originally from the center-left, Macron is now doomed to end up with the right, including the hardest right’
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François Hollande, the former Socialist president of France (2012-2017) criticizes his predecessor and former economy minister, in an interview with The world, over the contents the newly adopted immigration law. “With this law, we are insidiously moving towards national preference,” says Hollande, referring to a flagship policy of the far-right Rassemblement National.
The immigration law was adopted on Tuesday evening. Can President Emmanuel Macron, who feared becoming a lame duck, claim this as a victory?
It’s a defeat for the Republic. When a text is passed with measures contrary to the Constitution, it cannot be seen as progress. When, on fundamental principles, the Le Pen family considers it has won an ideological victory, that cannot be a victory. When a majority fractures, and when a government is hit by retching, this conclusion cannot be a triumph for the president of the Republic. Finally, and most seriously, when voters – and I was one of them – who in good faith voted for Emmanuel Macron to block the National Rally [RN] (…) find that proposals from that party are now laws of the Republic, it’s a humiliation.
That the RN, which has itself dithered and manipulated, wants to adorn itself with the feathers of the peacock is obvious. But after decades of pushing the concept of national preference, the RN has unquestionably won the gamble, here. I’m willing to acknowledge that President Macron and the government didn’t take the votes of the Front National [FN, the former name of the RN]. But they have taken his ideas.
What is so shocking about this law?
With the differentiation according to nationality created [by the law] for housing aids and family benefits [which will now be paid out after five years’ residence in France to non-European foreigners who are not in employment, whereas they are immediate to French nationals who are not working], a lock has been broken. A law on immigration is legitimate when the aim is to improve certain provisions on regularizations, to correct certain shortcomings on deportations. But the initial intention – to present a balanced text – has been lost. Today, it’s a text written taking dictation from the right-wing Les Républicains [LR], themselves under the influence of the RN. Here is the result. This political, legal, and moral slide only strengthens Marine Le Pen’s claim to succeed Emmanuel Macron.
Doesn’t public opinion in France expect such measures?
It expects efficiency where there is powerlessness, and humanity where there is helplessness. But this text has offended, it has wounded. We have to look at the open wounds. In the face of real fears, in the face of acts of violence that can go as far as heinous crimes, firmness is necessary. I myself responded to this demand when I faced the terrorist attacks of 2015. It’s dangerous to ignore the feelings that take hold of public opinion, but they must not be turned into resentment and exclusion.
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