Macron's meeting with party leaders: "The doors will remain open", says the Elysée

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credits: Ludovic MARIN / AFP 17:33 p.m., November 14, 2023

By announcing on Tuesday his refusal to participate in the next "Rencontre de Saint-Denis" organized on Friday by Emmanuel Macron, the president of the Republicans, Éric Ciotti, empties of its substance this meeting already shunned by LFI and the PS, even if the Elysée wants to keep the "doors open". "I won't be present in Saint-Denis": Éric Ciotti justified himself in an interview with the newspaper Le Figaro, castigating in particular "yet another communication approach", of which he refuses to be the "alibi".

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The table shrinks with defections

After taking part in the first meeting at the end of August, the LR president had previously hinted that he would repeat the experiment: "Rather yes," he replied last week about his participation, arguing that "as a matter of principle, I am not hostile to the debate". But, he now points out, "the absence of the President of the Republic on Sunday from the demonstration against anti-Semitism has finally convinced (him) not to participate."

What can this new "meeting" look like, whose table shrinks according to the defections, initiated by Olivier Faure (Socialist Party), who was followed by Manuel Bompard (La France insoumise)? Certainly, Emmanuel Macron will be able to count on his allies, Stéphane Séjourné (Renaissance), François Bayrou (MoDem), Edouard Philippe (Horizons), Laurent Hénart (Radical Party). The head of the UDI, Hervé Marseille, who shows respect for the presidential majority, will also be present.

Bardella, Roussel and Tondelier are present

But, among the oppositions, only Jordan Bardella for the National Rally, Fabien Roussel for the PCF and Marine Tondelier for EELV have announced their arrival. The latter confirmed to AFP on Tuesday her participation, pleading "for environmental justice and social justice to be at the heart of the discussions". The meeting, now promised to be held on the sly, is already looking stuck. The doors "will remain open" until the end, the Elysée said in reaction to the "no" vote.

But the coup d'éclat of the inaugural edition of August 30, when all the party leaders represented in Parliament had agreed to go to the House of Education of the Legion of Honor, a stone's throw from the basilica where the kings of France rest, seems distant. What had been presented as "a large-scale initiative" by Emmanuel Macron then turned to his advantage, with the head of state managing to hold a 12-hour long meeting concluded in the middle of the night.

"Overcoming divisions in the interest of the country"

The second round scheduled for Friday was nevertheless intended to be consensual: in his invitation sent last week, the President of the Republic called for "overcoming divisions in the interest of the country", stressing that "reflections on the avenues for the evolution of the referendum will also have to be continued". "It would be a question of both dealing with bills relating to so-called 'societal' issues such as the end of life, which is sometimes mentioned, but also broader reforms affecting several intertwined aspects, as is the case with migration issues which relate to regal, economic, social or even diplomatic issues," he said.

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On Tuesday, the Elysee also stressed that the meeting should make it possible to take stock of "the international situation, particularly in the Middle East, the consequences of which have resulted in France by an increase in anti-Semitic acts". Even more than that of LFI and the PS, Éric Ciotti's rejection therefore seems audacious: the LR leader has been calling for a referendum on immigration since the spring.

Éric Ciotti's turnaround

A paradox? The empty chair policy adopted by the Alpes-Maritimes MP seems to be part of a broader sequence. Because the right-wing party is looking for a position on the immigration bill, torn between the supporters of a "constructive" line in the Senate - especially Gérard Larcher, the LR president of the institution - and the supporters of the break, dominated by the leader of the LR deputies, Olivier Marleix, who do not intend to vote for the text and are threatening a motion of censure in the event of a 49.3.

Chance or coincidence, Éric Ciotti's U-turn, which surprised even his own ranks, came at the same time as a meeting of the LR group was being held at the National Assembly, in the presence of the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez. However, it was the first time that the putative right-wing candidate in the presidential election had attended this meeting since the beginning of the legislature, an episode seen by some as an attempt to regain control.