La France Insumisa takes over the finance commission that sued Le Pen
The trade union of left-wing parties (Nupes) led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon has won the chairmanship of the finance committee of the French National Assembly, one of the most controversial positions in the House of Representatives. National Regroupment, Marine Le Pen’s formation, believes it was up to them to get the most votes from the opposition.
The position is taken by the deputy of La Francia Insumisa Éric Coquerel after getting 21 votes, compared to 11 for the far-right Jean-Philippe Tanguy and 9 for Véronique Louwagie, candidate for Republicans (moderate right).
Coquerel, common candidate of the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (Nupes) was the favorite, although until the very end he feared that the rest of the acronyms would unite against him, which in the end didn’t happen.
Le Pen has put her head in her hands. “The most sectarian and radical far-left has been elected thanks to the right, which has once again shown cowardice,” said the far-right leader. He finds it “disturbing” that a “so sensitive” committee is in the hands of La France Insumisa and blames the Republicans, who could have prevented this.
All opposition forces have elected to chair the Finance Commission, which is valued as a real counterweight as it examines all budget projects before going through the chamber, oversees state accounts, has access to confidential information and can request the opening of a parliamentary inquiry.
National Regrouping, with 89 of the 577 deputies in the National Assembly, is the main opposition party, followed by La Francia Insumisa with 75 deputies. Traditionally, the chairmanship of the finance committee has been held by the opposition, although not necessarily in the party with the most seats, as has happened now. The trade union of left-wing parties, with a total of 150 deputies, presented a common candidate to overcome the far right.
Either way, Le Pen’s party won’t go away empty-handed. He has won two of the six vice presidencies. La Nupes argues that it has succeeded thanks to the moderate right and the government coalition.
Le Pen lost the April presidential election to centrist Emmanuel Macron but hit an “electoral tsunami” in the 19th parliamentary election, according to Jordan Bardella, interim president of National Realignment. In 2017, it won just 8 seats.
The current 89 deputies in the National Assembly and his 19 MEPs in Brussels show that his party’s normalization strategy that Le Pen started ten years ago is working. He changed the name to National Regroup, aware that the National Front name scared off many voters. He also expelled his father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and the most radical members to soften his speech. His aim was to make the formation more presentable to French public opinion and to profile itself as a credible alternative to Macron.
This normalization also contributed to the collapse of the presidential campaign of far-right Éric Zemmour, whose outbursts made Le Pen appear moderate in public opinion.
The end of the cordon sanitaire against the far right also explains this electoral success. In previous elections, every time a candidate went to the second round, all the rivals united against him. “No voice,” they exclaimed. This time the slogans were not so clear.
Le Pen has promised that he will conduct “a firm but responsible opposition. That is, with respect for the institutions». That is why he announced that his first bill will be against Islamism. He is already dreaming of the 2027 presidential election after, according to Bardella, with its 89 deputies “a new era is dawning for National Realignment: the era that will lead to victory”.
Source: La Verdad
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