"Despairing Macronism": the referendum called for by Gabriel Attal infuriates Valérie Boyer

Following the Constitutional Council's ruling against the ban on social media for those under 15, Gabriel Attal is calling for a referendum. This proposal has provoked a scathing reaction from LR Senator Valérie Boyer, who criticizes his positions from when he was in power.

Following the Constitutional Council's rejection of the law banning social media for those under 15, Gabriel Attal is calling on Emmanuel Macron to consult the French people directly. "It has been 21 years since the French people were consulted directly," the former Prime Minister explained in La Tribune on Sunday . According to him, a referendum would also expedite the process, whereas a new legislative procedure could take up to two years.

The Renaissance candidate for president believes that such a referendum could be organized on the basis of Article 11 of the Constitution, considering that a law intended to protect children falls under "the social policy of the Nation." Emmanuel Macron, for his part, has asked Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to prepare a new, "legally robust" draft of the text.

Valérie Boyer denounces the "despairing Macron regime"

The proposal provoked a strong reaction from Valérie Boyer. On social media, the LR senator from Bouches-du-Rhône directly challenged Gabriel Attal: "As a member of parliament, minister, and then prime minister, you refused referendums, particularly on immigration and even euthanasia, and now you're calling for a referendum to ban social media for those under 15. Are you serious? This is a hopeless Macron administration…"

Valérie Boyer accuses the former Prime Minister of inconsistency, criticizing him for only now rediscovering the virtues of public consultation after leaving Matignon. This attack comes as Gabriel Attal is using referendums as one of the arguments in his proposal to quickly pass a ban on social media for those under 15.