The political precariousness of the French government was revealed yesterday when the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced that the ambitious immigration reform project has to be postponed at least until after the summer due to the foreseeable lack of a parliamentary majority to move it forward.
The reform should include a partial and temporary legalization of irregular immigrants who work in sectors that are in great need of manpower, such as agriculture, construction or catering. This measure is directly opposed by the Republicans (LR, traditional right), the only potential allies of the Government, which is in a minority in the National Assembly. LR must stay tough on irregular immigration so as not to lose votes to Marine Le Pen's extreme right.
Borne presented the Executive's roadmap, a catalog of actions that must be put on track within a period of one hundred days, according to the will expressed last week by President Emmanuel Macron in a televised address, to get out of the serious social crisis caused by the pension reform.
The Prime Minister announced a plan for full employment and improvement of working conditions, the recruitment of thousands of medical assistants in rural areas with little health coverage, the hiring of more personnel for the justice system, greater police deployment and monitoring of the measures to alleviate inflation. Borne complied with the procedure to which she was obliged, but her promises run the risk of having little impact and of not calming the spirits of a very tense country.
