French constitutional court, presided by Laurent Fabius has rejected Thursday evening the enlarged version of the controversial immigration law, that has put Emmanuel Macron’s party in an alliance with the far-right French parties, Les Republicains and the RN.
The unexpected political blow to the French president, comes amid strong social discontent due to the strikes of the French farmers and polarization of the French society both in political and social spectrum.
Out of 86 articles of this law, 32 have been rejected by the court deemed to be unconstitutional and repressive.
While the initial reactions from the governmental camp are paradoxically festive and self-celebratory, the far right and the left wings of the French political aisles have been expressing opposing views on such a crushing defeat of the French political establishment.
It is worth noting that Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, and the initiator of this bill, has published in X (former Twitter), “The Constitutional Council validates the Government's initial text in its entirety: never has a text provided for so many means to deport delinquents and so many requirements for the integration of foreigners!”
Such a view is by definition erroneous, as more than the third of the text has been eliminated from the final version by the constitutional court, presenting the French political commentators with the question, whether Mr. Darmanin understood what happened.
On the left wing of the French politics, the liberal Ecologists are breathing with relief. Cyrielle Chatelain, who represents the green party in the French National Assembly has stated that the government of Emmanuel Macron have just been taught a lesson. "The infamous immigration law largely censured by the Constitutional Council. The fundamentals of our Republic reminded to Macron and his government! A lesson in the rule of law", claimed Ms. Chatelain.
Yet on the right wing, there is a thirst for blood. Eric Ciotti, who ascended to the leading position from the right wing of the centre right Republican party, moved once reputable political organization that presented France with such leaders as Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy to the position of the far right. Today the Republicans are competing with another right-wing populist National Rally for the position of Macron’s rivals.
Mr. Ciotti enraged by the constitutional changes, has openly declared that the court’s decision was primarily dictated by the political motivations rather the rule of law. As if it wasn’t enough, he went even further by claiming that France has capitulated to the interest of immigrants. “This censorship is a capitulation: it once again abandons France to the winds of mass immigration and goes against the clearly expressed wishes of the French people and their representatives”. In his belief, “France needs a constitutional change more than ever".
The only member of Emmanuel Macron’s party who took a risk and voted against the immigration law that takes majority of social protections from illegal immigrants, Sacha Houlié claimed that the Constitutional Courts decision returns the amended law to its initial form, the one that was not as repressive and strict.
Overall, today’s fiasco is a lose-lose situation for the French politics. While Emmanuel Macron tries to solidify his legacy and not let Marine Le Pen or any other far right party enter any governing roles, his party suffered a blow that might be considered as an opportunity by the French far right, which is actively trying to seize power. The seeds of such initiatives are already growing as Jordan Bardella, the right hand of the RN’s leader Marine Le Pen, has already proposed the “referendum on immigration”, reminding of dangerous yet familiar for Europe populist tropes of the past. In the end, the French society won today. The question is, for how long?
