“Annoying” moment, “bumped”, “disgusted” deputy: several elected representatives of the left-wing coalition Nupes castigated Tuesday, June 28 the reference to French Algeria in the inaugural speech of the dean RN of the National Assembly José Gonzalez, in opening of the new legislature. In a brief speech, the elected official of Bouches-du-Rhône, pied-noir born in Oran, spoke of his native land from which he was “ripped”. “I left part of my France and a lot of friends there” when Algeria gained its independence in 1962, he said, breaking off for a moment with emotion. .
The leader of the environmental group Julien Bayou said he was “struck”, even if the dean was “cautious and mentioned his personal case”. “It’s really problematic. We did not applaud. “The RN wants to show its credentials, but it explodes from the first speech,” commented his fellow EELV deputy Sandrine Rousseau. The president of the LFI group Mathilde Panot accused the RN of “apologizing for French Algeria and the crimes of colonization”. The rebellious Thomas Portes expressed his “disgust”. “It was quite embarrassing,” also judged the number 1 of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure in front of the press.
“We, the returnees from Algeria […] we left a part of France that we loved there. It was important to say that we loved France from there and that we love France from here. We are true patriots”, justified José Gonzalez, 79, at the microphone of LCP. In the rest of his more classic speech, José Gonzalez hailed a “symbol of French unity” with the gathering of all the deputies at the Palais-Bourbon, “a place of history” and “of hope”.
RN President Jordan Bardella generally welcomed a “moving and unifying speech […] What a contrast with the scruffy zadist of LFI who refuses to shake hands with his opponents”. The former leader of the National Front, which became the National Rally, Jean-Marie Le Pen, intends to call José Gonzalez to congratulate him and meet him, said his adviser Lorrain de Saint-Affrique, who welcomes a speech “of balance and ‘remarkable finesse’.
The rules provide that the oldest member chairs the first session. This is not a first for the far right. In 1986, an ally of the National Front, Édouard Frédéric-Dupont, had opened the 8th legislature in place of Marcel Dassault, older, but sick. José Gonzalez also paid tribute to these two political leaders.
