Arthur de Laborde / Photo credits: LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP 07:27, December 20, 2023

Parliament passed the immigration bill on Tuesday, with 349 MPs voting in favour and 186 against, after a favourable vote in the Senate earlier in the evening. While the epilogue appears victorious, the adoption of this bill has opened a major political crisis within the majority group.

Parliament on Tuesday definitively approved the immigration law, a parliamentary victory for Emmanuel Macron that at the same time opens a deep rift within his majority, part of which turned away from a text supported at the last minute by the National Rally.

On X, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin welcomed the adoption of a "strong and firm" text, "without the votes of the (88) RN deputies". "The majority has united, the RN's manoeuvre has failed," Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, appearing to ignore the defection of nearly a quarter of her deputies. 59 MPs from the majority voted against the text or abstained. The executive is also not getting a lot of votes from its allies in the MoDem.

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A new division

In a sign of the malaise, Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau submitted his resignation to the Prime Minister on Tuesday, although it was not known during the night whether it had been accepted. Behind the scenes, Elisabeth Borne's former chief of staff strongly opposed the tightening of the bill. Other ministers from Macron's left wing could also put their departure in the balance in the coming hours, such as Clément Beaune, Minister of Transport, Patrice Vergriete, Minister of Housing, Roland Lescure, Minister of Industry and Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education.

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The majority is therefore at risk of a fracture not seen since Emmanuel Macron came to power in 2017. Among the rebels, the head of the commission, Sacha Houlié, who presided over the work of the CMP, has granted multiple concessions to the right. If the Élysée congratulates itself on a total political victory for the president, in reality, it is an understatement to say that Emmanuel Macron's operation will have been a loser. Months of hesitation and setbacks to have his arm twisted by the right and divide his own camp in an attempt to turn the page on this sequence. The head of state will speak on television on Wednesday evening.