Castex government: Dupond-Moretti puts on a show at the Assembly - 20 Minutes

  • The government of Jean Castex responded this Wednesday for the first time to questions from deputies to the National Assembly.
  • The new Prime Minister was under fire from questions from opposition parliamentarians.
  • Eric Dupond-Moretti, new Keeper of the Seals, seemed surprised by the many interruptions during his speech.

They arrive drop by drop, in a hubbub of back to school, to take their places on the benches of the National Assembly. Jean Castex and his new team participated this Wednesday morning for the first time in traditional questions to the government. Shortly before 11 am, the hemicycle was already bubbling. For two hours, opposition members will try to destabilize the newcomers.

Jean Castex, first of all under fire

After the traditional "republican greetings", Virginie Duby-Muller, deputy Les Républicains de Haute-Savoie, launches the first arrows, aimed at the Prime Minister. “The French can't take it anymore. They are asking for a change in policy, not a retraining of ministers with a few headliners. As the new government captain, do you have the courage to admit that the course was not the right one, and that it is time to change it? "

On his bench, Jean Castex sorts his cards. He gets up, takes off his mask, to the applause of his majority. "I would like to tell you all the emotion and honor that I feel," he begins. The din covers its monotone tone. His sentences are interrupted by members of the opposition. “Know that I will always have great respect for Parliament. [" It's the minimum ! "] It will have escaped nobody that this new government [" is right! "] Comes into a particular context," he said, referring to "the health crisis of exceptional magnitude." "It was mismanaged!" ", Fuse from the benches of parliamentarians.

" Calm down ! “Scolds Richard Ferrand, President of the National Assembly, from the perch. But unrest resumes when Valérie Rabault questions the head of government on the controversial pension reform. "You are alone against the social partners, maintaining this reform is irresponsible! ", Launches the patron saint of socialist deputies. Jean Castex gets up, replies. "We will not give up," he said, referring to "a combat government, focused on efficiency."

Dupond-Moretti, calm pretenders to the heckling of the hemicycle

Another novice in the hemicycle, Eric Dupond-Moretti. The lawyer who became Keeper of the Seals was outraged by the LR deputy for Val-d'Oise Antoine Savignat, who spoke of his lack of enthusiasm at the idea of ​​integrating a government in the past. "We are not at the show and I will answer the question asked by the deputy," tries the magistrate in his hoarse voice, in a mixture of applause and rowdy. “We don't judge men on a priori. You will judge me for what I do when I have done it, ”he said.

But the former magistrate, more accustomed to the calm of the courtrooms, seems destabilized, or pretends to be, by the multiple interruptions of parliamentarians. "It's already complicated for me, it's a first ...", then he turns to the President of the National Assembly, disillusioned: "Do we count the interruptions? Richard Ferrand quipped: "No, no, we don't count, we suffer in silence. »The time runs out, the left of the hemicycle strikes the last seconds, leaving Dupond-Moretti haggard, arms raised.

A few minutes later, Roselyne Bachelot, still smiling, seems, for her part, in her garden. Asked about the cancellations of festivals, the new Minister of Culture, who had already worked for seven years in the executive, ensures that "the government has not remained inactive" and even allows a little joke when she evokes the Three Elephants Festival. "Nothing to do with politics," she laughs, referring to the nicknames given to socialists.

The tension dropped even more when the new Minister for Equality between Women and Men, Elisabeth Moreno, spoke, more hesitant. "I used to watch you on television and be here with you, it seems totally supernatural to me. Then she makes her audience laugh, sliding, "You are more beautiful in real life." After two hours of discussion, the session is closed. The ministers quickly leave the hemicycle. A new question period awaits them in the Senate in the afternoon.

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  • Reshuffle
  • Government
  • LREM
  • Eric Dupond-Moretti
  • Deputy
  • Jean Castex
  • National Assembly