France's commitment to the Sahel: a debate without consequences in the National Assembly

The announcement of the departure of French troops from Mali last week earned Emmanuel Macron a volley of criticism from his political opponents.

AP - Jerome Delay

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

The French commitment to the Sahel is under discussion, this Tuesday, February 22, at the National Assembly.

The government will make a statement on the subject, and then the different groups will speak.

A debate without consequences since Emmanuel Macron has already decided to withdraw French troops from Mali.

If for all the presidential candidates, this departure of the tricolor soldiers was inevitable, they criticize the strategy of the head of state.

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The announcement of the departure of French troops from Mali

last week earned Emmanuel Macron a volley of criticism from his political opponents.

From Jean-Luc Mélenchon to Marine Le Pen, all the candidates make the same observation: the French president could only bow to the junta in power in Bamako, underlines

,

.

A "

 " of the head of state for the socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo, a "

" in the eyes of Valérie Pécresse, of the Les Républicains party.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced the "

" and the " 

 » civilian officials;

the communist Fabien Roussel added a critique of “

”.

For the pretenders to the Élysée, France could no longer stay in Mali.

The French army is "

", judges Éric Zemmour.

The tricolor soldiers should have left several years ago, adds her rival, Marine Le Pen.

And now, what to do in the Sahel?

There, the candidates are less talkative.

Éric Zemmour proposes to conduct what he calls a "

", piecemeal operations on the model of Serval.

A “debate” without consequence

Among the three presidential candidates who are also deputies, only the leader of France Insoumise should take advantage of the platform, this Tuesday, to deliver a new indictment against the foreign and military policy of Emmanuel Macron, explains

,

.

Proof of the relative importance of this debate, a formal exercise which comes after the decision-making organized at the level of the presidency with European and African leaders.

Several speakers should also criticize the fact that Parliament was neither involved nor consulted. 

On the side of the majority, we will try to highlight Barkhane's balance sheet: the rise in power - despite everything - of the Malian army and the fact of having prevented the collapse of this country.

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• France

• mali

• Emmanuel Macron

• Diplomacy

• French politics

• sahel