Opposition deputies who are members of the Finance Committee left a series of ongoing hearings in the National Assembly on Wednesday, February 16, to protest against the refusal of the chairman of the committee, Eric Woerth, to resign despite his rallying to the parliamentary group of the presidential majority and its support for Emmanuel Macron.
For the deputies Les Républicains (LR) as for the Socialist group, the obstinacy of Eric Woerth constitutes a transgression of “the spirit of the rules” of the National Assembly, as stated by MP LR Véronique Louwagie, who called on the “rights of the opposition” and to one “spirit of democratic balance”.
The text which governs the distribution of positions between parliamentary groups stipulates than “cannot be elected (…) that a deputy belonging to a group that has declared itself to be in opposition”. The member for Oise no longer belongs to this category, which his former allies criticize, but he was elected under a different label from that of the majority – his choice therefore does not present any irregularity.
“I will not resign, that is how it is”
It is therefore in the name of “exemplary” that the leader of the Socialist deputies, Valérie Rabault, also demanded the resignation of Eric Woerth, stressing that the commission “may be called at any time” in the remaining four months of the legislature. ” Assume your choice »added Michel Zumkeller (Union of Democrats and Independents), followed by Charles de Courson (Freedoms and Territories) who pleaded for a “clarification”. Eric Coquerel (La France insoumise) said he would stand as a candidate if necessary.
The majority, for its part, united behind its new recruit. The Finance Committee “deserves better than the import of a political and symbolic debate”, said Laurent Saint-Martin, MP (La République en Marche) for Val-de-Marne. Undaunted, Eric Woerth said: “I will not resign, that is how it is. » “I do not support Emmanuel Macron’s first term, I said I was going to support Emmanuel Macron’s second term”he added, immediately getting booed.
The opposition deputies then left the room, leaving the meeting to continue in the presence of the majority around various hearings. They had not lost their temper at the beginning of the afternoon since the presentation of the annual report of the Court of Auditors in the hemicycle again allowed them to express their dissatisfaction with, for about twenty minutes, speeches and adjournments.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee like the rest of the majority remaining unmoved, the session resumed its normal course. The former Sarkozy minister announced a week ago that he would support Emmanuel Macron rather than Valérie Pécresse for the presidential election.