François Bayrou takes advantage of a bus trip to convince Emmanuel Macron of the benefits of proportional.

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STEPHANE LEMOUTON-POOL / SIPA

  • The introduction of proportionality in the legislative elections was a campaign promise by Emmanuel Macron in 2017.

  • The measure, which was one of the pillars of the alliance with François Bayrou and the Modem, should not be on the government's agenda for the end of the five-year term.

  • What arouse the anger of elected centrists, who try to put pressure on the head of state.

It is a political sea serpent The introduction of a dose of proportionality in the legislative elections reappears regularly in the debates.

This time, it's François Bayrou who draws.

The Modem boss, a long-time supporter of the measure, is preparing to send a letter to the Head of State after having submitted it to political leaders of all stripes.

"Me, I'm not used to giving up what I consider essential, particularly in the crisis we are living," he told Agence France Presse (AFP).

In his letter, the High Commissioner for Planning deplores "the brutality" of the current majority ballot, in which "neither pluralism nor equity are respected" and calls for "a change in political culture which allows, between the different political currents, whenever possible, dialogue and co-responsibility ”.

The exit is not trivial, since the executive seems on the contrary to want to bury this institutional reform, Emmanuel Macron's campaign promise in 2017.

One of the pillars of the alliance with the Modem in 2017

The candidate of En Marche was thus committed to "instill a dose of proportionality" from the first year of his mandate.

The measure was even one of the pillars of the precious alliance with François Bayrou, who had given up standing in February 2017. But since his election, the President of the Republic has only pushed it back, depending on political crises even if in April 2019, he still assured to want to increase the dose to 20% in 2022. Today, it is the epidemic of coronavirus which is invoked:

"Given the priority given to the management of the crisis and the recovery, and the full parliamentary calendar, this reform is not a priority at this stage", annoys the entourage of Emmanuel Macron at the AFP.

The same motivation comes from the boss of La République en Marche, Stanislas Guerini, for whom the “subject must be looked at more broadly in 2022, to breathe new life into our democracy”.

"Turkeys don't vote at Christmas"

But the Modem, as we have understood, does not intend to stop there.

Centrist parliamentarians are therefore maneuvering to try to bend the executive.

"As Jean-Louis Bourlanges [centrist deputy] says, '' turkeys do not vote at Christmas ''", assures Erwan Balanant.

Fortunately, the Modem deputy develops: “It is obvious that once you are elected deputies, you think that the system which elected you is the best.

It is therefore more difficult to reform it, ”he adds, targeting his Macronist colleagues.

The elected representative of Finistère brushes aside the usual criticism of the proportional system: instability.

"The projections made on the 2017 results give a majority each time [except for full proportional representation]," he said.

According to reported comments, the boss of LREM deputies Christophe Castaner would have been worried about seeing a hundred elected RNs enter the Assembly with such a system.

" So what ?

So much the better, we would see that they have nothing to offer the country and that they cannot join any coalition, ”adds Erwan Balanant.

Referendum, amendment or simple abandonment?

Still, the schedule promises to be tight.

The law obliges to modify the voting method at least one year before its holding, that is to say within five months for elections in 2022. The Modem group wants to table in the Assembly an amendment in favor of the proportionality bill of postponement of regional elections, considered from February 3 at the Assembly.

François Bayrou is campaigning for a referendum.

Bruno Bonnell, LREM deputy for the Rhône, shrugs his shoulders.

“The proportional was coherent in a broader institutional reform, with a reduction of deputies, etc.

Doing a bit of reform doesn't seem opportune to me, ”he said.

"I understand the instant frustration of our partners, but the electoral agreements of our alliance in the current system will bring them as much satisfaction in June 2022, if not more".

Since this seems to be his fate, proportionality could be recycled into a campaign program of the second five-year term of candidate Macron.

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  • Francois Bayrou

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Elections

  • LREM

  • Modem