"It is at the Elysée that it will be decided, it is the president of the Republic who has the keys and he alone," said the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes in an interview Saturday with the Parisian, recalling, however, that in the company of the presidents of the LR groups in the Senate Bruno Retailleau and the Assembly Olivier Marleix, they would respond to the invitation of the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin "as a courtesy".
Republicans have introduced two hard-line immigration bills in the face of a government that hopes for a compromise around its future bill.
But "it is a false outstretched hand, there is no firmness in the handshake," regretted Eric Ciotti, for whom only the proposal of LR can "solve the problem of immigration in our country".
The boss of the right adds that his party will reproduce "on other themes" this type of legislative initiative, "especially at the economic level in the autumn".
Asked about the recent position taken by former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, for whom the government's bill is "necessary" but "not sufficient", Mr. Ciotti calls on Horizons deputies to "follow" the LR rather than the majority.
Denouncing a "double discourse" on the part of the mayor of Le Havre, he decided: "I do not see on what basis we would work with him".
Mr. Ciotti also criticizes the latest trips of Emmanuel Macron, each giving rise according to him "to an announcement of additional spending in millions of euros". "Since March 30, the counter amounts to 5.3 billion euros!" he points out.
© 2023 AFP