Paris (AFP)

Not a "cataclysm", but a thorn for the majority: "walkers" and ex- "walkers", including Matthieu Orphelin and Cédric Villani, launched Tuesday a new group in the Assembly, which makes LREM narrowly lose the absolute majority.

Two years from the end of the quinquennium and after "a lot of pressure" from the government or from macronist executives, they are finally 17 to have integrated this new entity called "Ecology Democracy Solidarity", in gestation for several months.

These elected officials intend to work in the "world after" the coronavirus crisis within a "small but sturdy" group, said Tuesday Matthieu Orphelin (close to Nicolas Hulot), co-president with the ex-LREM Paula Forteza.

And the former "walker" to ensure that others will join the ranks "in the coming weeks", during a videoconference in the presence of elected officials from the new group.

Among them are seven members of the majority group, including members of the left wing Aurélien Taché, Guillaume Chiche and also Cédric Villani (excluded from the party but still a member of the LREM group until then).

All were elected under the label of Emmanuel Macron, with the exception of the former PS Minister for Ecology Delphine Batho.

"We will push and support all decisions to meet the challenges, but will be able to oppose in all other cases", they warn in their political declaration.

- "Tribulations" -

With this ninth entity - a record at the Palais Bourbon under the Fifth Republic - the LREM group, which had 314 deputies in 2017, fell to 288, just below the threshold of the absolute majority (289 seats) which it had previously held at only him. A blow for the presidential camp.

But "the majority always has the majority", with the support of the MoDem and its 46 elected officials, was annoyed Tuesday morning the President of the Assembly Richard Ferrand (LREM), mocking "tribulations of parliamentary life". "The majority is not in danger, far from it," added Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

And LREM could quickly recover the absolute majority if the future substitute of Olivier Gaillard (ex-LREM, who should leave his post of deputy to become mayor), joins the ranks of "walkers", as announced by the deputy.

The PS had suffered the same fate as LREM, with a relative majority in early 2015, but without the "rebellious" of the Holland era never secede.

- "Macronist mess" -

Critics of legitimists have increased as the noise around this 9th group has intensified, the creation of which was deemed "inevitable" from March internally. "Political misinterpretation", "frogs", "mishaps", had pinned in advance members of the government and the majority party.

In the LREM ranks, while some welcome clarification and the contribution of potential new ideas, others mock the choice of "individual adventure".

A parliamentary source also sees a small success for the "walkers" in the fact that the group has only 17 members, which "puts things into perspective". But she predicts that it is "essentially" the boss of the group Gilles Le Gendre who will wear the hat.

The latter assured AFP that the initiative of the 9th group "will in no way hinder the action of our majority, united and strong today as yesterday".

LREM elected officials are already working internally on a current on the social and ecological axis, called "In common". An attempt to "plug the leak" is said to be in the new group.

In the opposition, the leader of the deputies LR Damien Abad sees in all that "the failure of a method and an ideological narrowing" for LREM, and judges "intriguing" to "fall back into the meanders of political politics" in the midst of a crisis.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) estimated in a blog post that "the macronist mess continues" with this group of "ni-ni". For the Communist deputies, with a majority which "remains plethoric, that does not fundamentally change the deal".

Marine Le Pen has again declared herself in favor of dissolving the National Assembly.

© 2020 AFP