- The announcement of a ninth political group in the National Assembly, composed of LREM dissidents on the left wing, is imminent.
- In the fall of 2018, dissidents LREM had already created a group of deputies, around parliamentarians from other currents.
- They explain to 20 Minutes how this very political gesture has also changed their daily life as members of parliament.
That's it ! After long negotiations, a ninth group will be created on Tuesday at the Assembly. The announcement must be formalized at a press conference at 11 a.m., confirms at 20 minutes one of the leaders of this gathering, the deputy of Maine-et-Loire Matthieu Orphelin. The one who left the group of La République en Marche in February 2019 will be joined by other deputies who have chosen to cross the Rubicon, which could cause the presidential party to lose an absolute majority. By 2018, other deputies had left the macronist ship and had joined forces to form an eighth group, called "Liberties and Territories". 20 Minutes asked them what had changed in their work as parliamentarians.
Released, delivered ...
"Liberty" is one of the first words on the lips of these ex-LREMs. "The instructions were:" Do nothing, come and vote as you are asked. " Impossible to propose even an amendment without asking for the approval of the office, ”recalls François-Michel Lambert, MP for Bouches-du-Rhône. Leaving the LREM group in October 2018 was, for him, the opportunity to "regain freedom of expression and vote".
"When I was at En Marche, I experienced these instructions very badly," recalls Frédérique Dumas. "I understand that a majority must have a minimum of homogeneity, and must support the government but there, it went too far, with an extremely authoritarian group management, and caricatures of methods of the past, pressures exerted on some ”. The member for Hauts-de-Seine left the LREM group in September 2018 and made a brief stint at the UDI group, Agir et Indépendants (UAI), before joining Libertés et Territoires in June 2019.
This group brings together elected officials from the right and left centers, radicals and environmentalists. "With us, there are no instructions or pressures from above, from the Elysée Palace or from a party," continues Frédérique Dumas. "We come from different universes, we exchange, we discuss, and then we try to find a majority position". And if a member chooses not to follow it, there are no sanctions, while the LREM group recently excluded MP Martine Wonner after her vote against the government's deconfinement strategy.
No more fading into a bloated group
Second difference praised by these elected officials, size. "In a bloated group, speech disappears behind the number, while in a small group, everyone speaks, and everyone listens to themselves," observes Jean-Michel Clément. The MP for Vienna was the second to leave the LREM group in September 2018, in "deep political disagreement" with the asylum and immigration law. At the time, the group had 313 members, compared to 20 for Libertés et Territoires, which it joined in October 2018.
"I gained visibility," also notes François-Michel Lambert. “To be visible at LREM, you have to be close to the leaders, a very small circle, or be rebellious. And, in the middle, there are 250 deputies whom we hardly hear ”. Joining a group of 20 deputies automatically means "more speeches in the hemicycle, more questions to the government, more participation", summarizes the elected official, who says he is "more fulfilled" and more "involved" in the work parliamentarians.
"An appendix of En Marche"?
Will the ninth group also keep its promises of freedom and visibility for the secessionist deputies? Called "Ecology Democracy Solidarity", it should be "neither in the majority nor in the opposition". This poses a problem, according to several ex-LREMs. "It may look like an appendix to En Marche," says Jean-Michel Clément. "They promise freedom to vote, but if they support the majority, it is not obvious that there is no voting instruction", continues Frédérique Dumas.
"They will be able to make media agitation", estimates François-Michel Lambert, more circumspect on the political weight of this group, "without party behind, without minister, without personality".
This birth of a ninth group (a record) in the Assembly risks in any case weakening the majority, where initiatives abound these days. According to our information, the deputies LREM Hugues Renson and Barbara Pompili wish to create a social and ecological current internally, while other elected members of the majority party want to embody a current intended to reaffirm the central place of the State.
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