MP Caroline Fiat questions Élisabeth Borne about her vaping in the Assembly: "It's a total contempt"

Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: TELMO PINTO / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP 19:32 p.m., November 30, 2023

Seeing Élisabeth Borne vaping in the corridors of the Palais Bourbon is no longer surprising for the regulars of the place. But this time, the habit that the prime minister is struggling to break has been detrimental to her. In the middle of the session in the hemicycle, the rebellious MP Caroline Fiat, who was speaking about the motion of censure tabled after a new 49.3, interrupted herself to reprimand the head of government for using her electronic cigarette.

The elected representative of Meurthe-et-Moselle was all the more outraged as the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, presented this Tuesday the government's anti-smoking plan, providing in particular for the gradual increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes - which must reach 13 euros by 2027 at the latest - but also the extension of the smoking ban to several public places.

Forced to interrupt me in my speech to ask @Elisabeth_Borne to stop vaping in the hemicycle!
"Here we write the law, we are not above the law"
What contempt! pic.twitter.com/JWZ3PKkQez

— Caroline FIAT (@CarolineFiat54) November 30, 2023

"We are not above the law"

Caroline Fiat also pointed out to him that vaping in the Assembly was against the law, as stipulated on the servicepublic.fr website. The use of electronic cigarettes is indeed prohibited "in places hosting workstations, closed and covered, for collective use". In case of non-compliance with the rules, the offender can be exposed to a fine of 150 euros. "Here we write the law, we are not above the law. To vape in this place while I am talking to you is utter disregard. And, as a reminder, it's bad for your health," she concluded.

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This is not the first time that this vaping trend has caused tension among some opposition politicians. In the ranks of LFI, MP Antoine Léaument was annoyed by this on June 12 in a message published on X (ex-Twitter). "And to think that it's the rebels who are being lectured on how to maintain themselves. The Prime Minister has an electronic cigarette on her cheek in the middle of the session on the motion of censure. Does she smoke discreetly in the middle of a session? Is it polite and respectful of Parliament?" he asked.

And to think that it is to the rebels that lessons are given in self-control.

The Prime Minister has an electronic cigarette on her cheek in the middle of a session on the #MotionDeCensure.

Does she smoke discreetly in the middle of a session?

Is it polite and respectful of Parliament? pic.twitter.com/a9n5OEZIVh

— Antoine Léaument (@ALeaument) June 12, 2023

At Les Républicains, it was the deputy of the Oise, Maxime Minot, who took a jab at the woman who was at the time Minister of Labour. Regretting that she vaped "quietly" while he asked her "a question in the Chamber", he added: "The new world is really special".