SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Macron urges ‘intelligent compromise’ over immigration bill

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for an "intelligent compromise" over a controversial immigration bill as his government battles a political crisis following the rejection of the flagship legislation in parliament.

Macron urges 'intelligent compromise' over immigration bill
French President Emmanuel Macron gives a press conference in Brussels in 2023. (Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP)

In a surprise move on Monday, members of the opposition joined forces in the French parliament’s lower house to vote down the legislation aimed at hardening French immigration law without even debating the measures.

The government, which does not have a majority in parliament, has been locked in intense talks with the right-wing opposition in a bid to rescue the legislation.

READ MORE: OPINION: The French people are greater losers than Macron in immigration bill battle

“I am in favour of results and pragmatism,” Macron said on a visit to Brussels.

He called for an “intelligent compromise” in the name of “the general interest.”

“Our country needs to improve its rules to better fight against illegal immigration, traffickers, against those who take advantage of the world’s misery and who weaken our system by putting too much pressure on it,” he added.

A mixed parliamentary commission comprising upper house senators and lower house lawmakers is expected to meet on Monday in a bid to thrash out a compromise text.

Macron indicated he did not want to trigger article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the government to pass legislation without a vote, as it did with contentious pension reforms earlier this year.

“It would not be serious to subject a sensitive text to article 49.3 when the opposition has done everything to ensure there is no debate,” Macron said.

He criticised the Republicans and the Socialists for joining forces with hard-left France Unbowed and far-right Rassemblement National to vote down the draft law.

“It was a game of obstruction and refusal of dialogue that the French people cannot understand,” Macron said.

“I don’t understand it either. Because we can agree or disagree, but I find it strange not to have dialogue.”

The frantic talks over the text of the bill come amid a heated debate in French society around immigration and security.

The rejection of the legislation was deeply frustrating for Macron, who many see as a potential lame duck as he sits out the rest of his term without being able to stand for a third time in 2027.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

New Caledonia's main international airport will reopen from Monday after being shut last month during a spate of deadly unrest, the high commission in the French Pacific territory said, adding a curfew would also be reduced.

New Caledonia airport to reopen Monday, curfew reduced: authorities

The commission said Sunday that it had “decided to reopen the airport during the day” and to “push back to 8:00 pm (from 6:00 pm) the start of the curfew as of Monday”.

The measures had been introduced after violence broke out on May 13 over a controversial voting reform that would have allowed long-term residents to participate in local polls.

The archipelago’s Indigenous Kanaks feared the move would dilute their vote, putting hopes for eventually winning independence definitively out of reach.

READ ALSO: Explained: What’s behind the violence on French island of New Caledonia?

Barricades, skirmishes with the police and looting left nine dead and hundreds injured, and inflicted hundreds of millions of euros in damage.

The full resumption of flights at Tontouta airport was made possible by the reopening of an expressway linking it to the capital Noumea that had been blocked by demonstrators, the commission said.

Previously the airport was only handling a small number of flights with special exemptions.

Meanwhile, the curfew, which runs until 6:00 am, was reduced “in light of the improvement in the situation and in order to facilitate the gradual return to normal life”, the commission added.

French President Emmanuel Macron had announced on Wednesday that the voting reform that touched off the unrest would be “suspended” in light of snap parliamentary polls.

Instead he aimed to “give full voice to local dialogue and the restoration of order”, he told reporters.

Although approved by both France’s National Assembly and Senate, the reform had been waiting on a constitutional congress of both houses to become part of the basic law.

Caledonian pro-independence movements had already considered reform dead given Macron’s call for snap elections.

“This should be a time for rebuilding peace and social ties,” the Kanak Liberation Party (Palika) said Wednesday before the announcement.

SHOW COMMENTS