M
arine Le Pen's elation in describing Thursday, October 30, as "a historic day" for the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party was largely exaggerated. The resolution to denounce the 1968 French-Algerian agreement, which her group put forward and was then adopted in the Assemblée Nationale, is not legally binding. The government is under no obligation to implement it.
Symbolically, however, the far right has won an undeniable victory, as this was the first time a bill it put forward in the Assemblée Nationale was adopted. Lawmakers approved it by a very slim majority (185 votes for to 184 against), and it received support from half of the Les Républicains (LR, right) and Horizons (center right) MPs.
The shock provoked by the far-right victory reflects the responsibility borne by all the other parties. Le Pen won this round because the groundwork had already been prepared amid large segments of the right. Signed six years after the end of the Algerian War, the 1968 agreement offered Algerians specific provisions regarding movement, immigration and residence in France. It has become a focal point for those who believe that immigration from North Africa is too high and that France has proven too lenient toward the Algerian regime.
