French President Emmanuel Macron defended a bill to tighten immigration laws on Wednesday despite his ruling alliance being on the same side as Marine Le Pen’s national Unite party in a vote.
The bill, approved by both houses of parliament late Tuesday, was initially good news for the centrist president, who has made the migration bill a key point of his second mandate and might otherwise have been forced to shelve it.
But support for the bill from Le Pen’s opposition party surprised Macron, leading him to accuse Le Pen of political opportunism on Wednesday, adding in a television interview:
That was a shoddy move.
The law was the necessary result of a compromise, Macron said, noting that he doesn’t agree with all aspects of the legislation. He added:
Political life consists of crises, of agreements and of disagreements.
In his interview on Wednesday Macron noted:
It is a shield that we needed.
The new legislation is “very clearly” aimed at discouraging illegal immigration.
Six months before European Parliament elections in which immigration will play a key role, the bill’s passage could strengthen Marine Le Pen, who called the amended bill a “big ideological victory” for her party.
An Elabe poll for BFM TV showed that 70 per cent of French people supported the new bill, including 87 per cent of Macron supporters. But in a sign that Le Pen has won the battle of narratives in public opinion, the same poll showed that 73% believe her party’s ideas inspired the bill.
