RN Abstains, Allowing Ferrand’s Appointment to Constitutional Council
On Wednesday, February 19th, the Republican Party (LR) and the left-wing opposition accused the National Rally (RN) of being "complicit" in the validation of Richard Ferrand’s candidacy to head the Constitutional Council. The vote, held in a parliamentary legal affairs committee, passed by a narrow margin with RN members abstaining.
Ferrand, a former National Assembly president and close ally of Emmanuel Macron, faced opposition during his hearings, with 58 votes against his candidacy. However, with the RN’s abstentions, the threshold for rejecting his nomination dropped from 74 to 59 votes, falling short of the necessary majority by one vote.
Criticism Abounds
Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the Right Republican group, denounced the RN’s abstentions. "RN deputies are now complicit in the appointment to the presidency of the Constitutional Council of a fellow traveler of Emmanuel Macron, who campaigned for nearly 40 years in the left wing of the Socialist Party," he stated on Twitter. LR deputy Julien Dive accused the RN of "collusion" and a "dirty deal."
Left-wing reactions were equally vehement. Mathilde Panot, the president of the France Insoumise (LFI) group in the National Assembly, questioned any "secret agreement" and accused Ferrand of being "sponsored" by Marine Le Pen. Fabien Roussel, the national secretary of the Communist Party, condemned the appointment as "proof that today the far right is no longer the anti-system party but the party of the system."
Green Party senator Mélanie Vogel urged President Macron not to appoint Ferrand and to "propose another candidate with a serious profile, above any suspicion of bias." The Socialist Party’s (PS) secretary general, Pierre Jouvet, asserted that Ferrand’s appointment "is the ultimate proof that today the far right is no longer the anti-system party but the party of the system."
Le Pen’s Political Future
At the heart of the suspicions lies the future of Marine Le Pen, whose political aspirations could partly be decided by the Constitutional Council. Le Pen faces potential ineligibility in the case involving parliamentary assistants of the National Front (now RN), with a decision expected in late March.
In a similar case, the Constitutional Council is set to rule on the constitutionality of executing such a sentence immediately upon conviction, notwithstanding the possibility of appeal. This ruling could set a precedent for Le Pen’s case.
Other Candidates
In contrast to Ferrand, Philippe Bas, a senator and former judge, had his candidacy to the Constitutional Council approved by the Senate’s legal affairs committee. Former MoDem deputy Laurence Vichnievsky was set to be questioned by the National Assembly’s legal affairs committee regarding her candidacy to replace Corinne Luquiens, whose term is also expiring.
