Europe 1 with AFP 15:06 p.m., November 28, 2023

The deputies of the Les Républicains group "unanimously" adopted a motion affirming their refusal to vote on a text on immigration that would be modified compared to the one adopted by the right-wing Senate majority.

The deputies of the Les Républicains group on Tuesday "unanimously" approved a motion that affirms their refusal to support a text on immigration that would be "degraded" compared to the one adopted by the right-wing Senate majority, said their president Olivier Marleix. "To make things very clear, I wanted the group to vote this morning (Tuesday) (...) the expression of a very firm position," the head of the LR group told the press, in reaction to the op-ed published on Sunday by 17 of his deputies who said they were ready to vote for the text as long as it remains close to the version adopted by the Senate on 14 November.

This stance was welcomed by the presidential majority, which saw it as proof of the divisions on this text within the right, while the LR leaders are threatening a motion of censure if their conditions are not accepted. According to Mr. Marleix, the motion approved "unanimously and by a show of hands" at the group's meeting, reaffirms the refusal of the LR deputies to "any deterioration of the immigration bill, as toughened by the Senate".

"We will not vote for a text that will be rewritten"

"They reject, in particular, any right (...) which would lead to massive regularisations" and reiterate their call for an amendment to the Constitution to give the State the capacity to reduce immigration. MP Véronique Louwagie, a signatory of the op-ed, agreed: "We will not vote for a text that will be rewritten compared to the one proposed by the Senate," she said at the same press briefing, pointing out the contradictions within Macron's own government.

"The senators of the presidential majority voted for the Senate's text," she recalled, assuring that it would be up to the presidential majority and the government to take responsibility for a failure by "explaining their renunciations and the lack of coherence between the two chambers". Ms Louwagie said the main purpose of the forum was to recall "the catastrophic situation of the current migration policy" and to highlight "the work carried out by the Senate".