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‘Totally normal’ to speak to the far right, insists Macron

President Emmanuel Macron has insisted it was "totally normal" for his government to hold discussions with the far right, which has long been shunned by France's political mainstream.

'Totally normal' to speak to the far right, insists Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP)

Macron’s government was slammed for seeking support from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party to pass a controversial immigration law in December.

That bill was hardened to gain the support of the RN and other right-wing MPs, but the country’s highest constitutional authority censured most of the
new amendments, which were dropped before Macron signed it into law last month.

Macron denied that his government was counting on the votes of the far right to get laws through parliament.

He told reporters in Bordeaux that there was “recognition that all parties present in parliament were chosen by our compatriots”.

“Several laws have been approved by the RN, we have simply ensured that no bill was passed solely thanks to RN votes,” he added.

“But it’s totally normal to say there can be discussions,” he said. “We aren’t going to assume that one political grouping or another has less
parliamentary rights.”

The far right has clawed its way further into the French political mainstream in recent years after decades of being cold-shouldered by other parties.

As recently as 2022, Macron presented a vote for his re-election as the only way to keep the far-right Marine Le Pen out of the presidency.

A more flexible approach has crept in since his centrist party lost its absolute majority in parliamentary elections.

Macron’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Thursday said it was normal to work “with everybody” in parliament, including groups he was “radically opposed” to such as the RN and the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party.

“Behind these lawmakers, even if we don’t agree, there are millions of French voters,” he told the France 2 television channel.

“It would be disrespecting them to say, ‘Because you are from LFI or RN, we won’t listen or look at a (suggested) amendment,'” he said.

Macron appointed Attal last month to head a more right-leaning cabinet as part of a bid to relaunch his presidency and prevent the far right from winning in June’s European elections and the next presidential election in 2027.

After serving the maximum two consecutive terms, Macron cannot stand for president again in 2027, with RN figurehead Le Pen sensing her best chance to claim the Elysee Palace.

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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.

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