Marine Tondelier (Bois-Bernard, 38 years old)She arrives at the Parisian Café Concorde, a few steps from the National Assembly, dressed in an olive-green jacket that leaves no doubt from the first second about her political affiliation. Leader of the Ecologists in France, a key member of the New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing alliance that won the legislative elections in July, she arrives at this meeting held last Thursday with five journalists from the Leading Newspaper Alliance in Europe (LENA) eager for a fight. Especially when the conversation turns to the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and his role after an election in which they managed to stop the rise of Marine Le Pen’s far right thanks to a pact between the majority of centre and left-wing forces. The President of the Republic then refused to allow the winning force to propose a government by ruling out its candidate, Lucie Castets.
In the end, Macron handed over the leadership of the new executive to the conservative Michel Barnier. On Sunday, he announced the names of his 39 ministers. The result is that France will be governed by the most conservative executive for 12 years. Faced with this scenario, which Tondelier had already predicted, the ecologist leader is not even considering the possibility of pushing for Macron’s dismissal, because she is sure that the president will resign before then.
Ask.Two and a half months after the dissolution of the National Assembly, Michel Barnier has finally proposed a team to Emmanuel Macron. So much time for this?
Answer. This is a moment of great concern for those who, like me, believe that there is a social, environmental and democratic urgency. When Macron defended the continuity of the State, he was actually defending the continuity of his own policy, even though three-quarters of French people want change. This is a serious moment because it calls into question the confidence we can have in the outcome of an election.
P.You expressed great indignation when Emmanuel Macron refused to appoint NFP candidate Lucie Castets as Prime Minister…
R. That rejection was full of hypocrisy. Macron told us: “I would love to, but I can’t because there would be a vote of no confidence in Parliament.” But that vote of no confidence would have depended on the votes of his own MPs. If he had solemnly asked them, in the name of the continuity of the institutions and respect for the election results, to allow Castets to start working, they would have judged us by the reality of the policies implemented. I am sure that we would have succeeded in convincing them.
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P. Did the Left miss an opportunity to govern? They took too long to agree on the name of Lucie Castets and then did not support Bernard Cazeneuve [el último jefe de Gobierno del exdirigente socialista François Hollande] when his name was mentioned.
R. This question is unfair. It is part of the Macronist strategy: even when they commit a democratic outrage, we are asked if it was our fault. No, all this is Macron’s responsibility. We did what we had to do: we drafted a common programme in record time, we ran a great campaign and we won. We were clear and transparent. When people cast their vote in the ballot box, they knew why they were doing it. Yes, it is true, we took a while to propose a name because we wanted to do it seriously.
It is unfair that in this country some people enjoy an automatic presumption of credibility. Macron, Bruno Le Maire, Michel Barnier: whatever they do, it seems serious and credible. But it is 10 weeks since the election, 72 days since the previous prime minister resigned and 15 days since Michel Barnier was appointed, and his camp remains divided on issues such as whether taxes should be raised. Frankly, it is not serious.
P.Are you being denied credibility?
R. On the evening of June 9, no one believed that we could achieve a left-wing unity, not even the president; otherwise he would not have dissolved the Assembly. But we reached an agreement on a programme, on the constituencies. No polls gave us the win until a quarter of an hour before the results. And we won. They told us: “You will never find a name for the Prime Minister.” But we did. Let them try to do better! The spectacle that those who give us lessons in economic and budgetary morality are putting on is not up to par. We do not need lessons in morality or finance from them, but apologies. They have increased the debt by one billion euros in seven years. And I wish it had been to reduce the social gap or invest in the environment. There are nine million poor people in this country, and they are getting poorer every day. But they have lowered taxes for the richest. They have played the role of Robin Hood, but in reverse.
P.Why didn’t they defend Cazeneuve’s option?
R. What option does Cazeneuve have? Macron never seriously considered appointing him as prime minister. This hypothesis was only floated in an attempt to divide the Socialist Party.
P.And it worked!
R. In the media…
P.Not only that: Cazeneuve’s name was booed in the PS.
R. Because Cazeneuve is not a member of any party of the NFP. He has never supported it, not even close. Never. The few times he spoke about the NFP it was to criticize it. While we were saving France, removing Jordan Bardella [candidato a primer ministro en las últimas elecciones del Reagrupamiento Nacional] of Matignon [sede de la oficina del primer ministro]Where was Bernard Cazeneuve?
P.Is social democracy no longer part of the left?
R. But Cazeneuve is not in the social democratic family. He gave back his PS membership card. He left. We were up to the historic moment. We made the republican front. If Macron has been saved, it is thanks to the voters of the New Popular Front. And what has he done since then? We have gone from the republican front to republican grievance, with the appointment of a prime minister who will implement an even worse Macronism. And all under the complacent gaze of the National Rally (RN). Because yes, Marine Le Pen is complicit in all this. It must be explained to her voters: she pretends to defend the popular electorate, but every time the extreme right has the opportunity to choose, she always opts for the side of the powerful. Without supporting, encouraging or participating in a left-wing government, the RN could have facilitated the increase in the minimum wage or the repeal of the pension reform. But the RN preferred to give its consent to a right-wing prime minister. That is the extreme right.
P.Would you vote with the far right to repeal the pension reform in the next Assembly?
R. We have done our duty by preventing the advance of National Rally, both we and our voters. And now we will govern for the French people. That is what will guide our decisions.
P.Are you afraid of the social consequences of this government?
R. The social and political consequences. This country is in bad shape. There are huge tensions due to growing social injustices. And when there are injustices, the RN acts like a broom wagon. The steeper the slope, the more people end up in the broom wagon, which creates scapegoats: for the precarious, it will be the migrants who are to blame. For the farmers, it will be the environmentalists. I told the president: if he continues to intensify his policy for two more years, there will be no point in coming to look for me between one round and the other in 2027. It will be too late.
P. Do you support the impeachment process against Emmanuel Macron? Have we reached that point?
R. I think it’s possible that he will resign before being removed from office.
P.Because?
R. I have always said, and I pride myself on being consistent, that I had no better option than Lucie Castets. We did not say that it would be easy or comfortable. We said that there is no majority more solid and consistent than ours. And it is being demonstrated day after day. Here we are, together.
