The French parliament on Tuesday, passed an Immigration bill backed by the government of President Emmanuel Macron after he faced a major rebellion within his own party over the far right’s support of the toughened-up legislation.The lower house voted in favour of the legislation by a wide majority, with the ruling party in the end not needing the support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) to push the bill through.
Various amendments have seen the Immigration measures further tightened from when the bill was originally submitted, with the left accusing the government of caving in to pressure from the far right.
Le Pen endorsed the strengthened bill but key left-leaning members of Macron’s Renaissance Party and allied factions indicated they could no longer support it, with several ministers reportedly threatening to resign.
“We can rejoice in ideological progress, an ideological victory even for the National Rally, since this is now enshrined into law as a national priority,” said Le Pen, a three-time presidential candidate who leads the RN’s lawmakers in parliament and is widely expected to stand again for president in 2027.
The RN had previously said it would vote against the bill or abstain. French media dubbed her surprise move a “kiss of death” for Macron’s party.
The bill had been voted down without even being debated in the National Assembly last week, in a major blow to Macron.
The upper-house Senate had earlier also passed the legislation, which then went through the lower house with 349 in favour and 186 against.
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