The debates end in confusion in the Assembly
The deputies concluded this Friday, February 17 at midnight the examination at first reading of the pension reform project.
After this stage in the Assembly, the text must arrive in the Senate on March 2.
AFP
In the confusion, the Assembly concluded Friday at midnight, without a vote, the examination at first reading of the pension reform project, on yet another imbroglio on the subject of long careers, the examination of the text now having to continue in the Senate .
The deputies continued with the study of a motion of censure tabled by the National Rally (RN), which however has no chance of obtaining sufficient votes. In the preamble, Marine Le Pen denounced “a project (…) badly carried and badly explained”, as well as a “denial of democracy” of the government. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne replied to him by stressing that this debate on pensions had shown the faces of “two populisms”, those of the far right and of insubordinate France (LFI).
The debate on Emmanuel Macron’s flagship reform ended at the time provided for by the Constitution, at midnight sharp. “The government will seize the Senate of the text which it initially presented, modified by the amendments voted by your Assembly”, announced the Minister for Labor Olivier Dussopt, the voice hoarse. “You insulted me for 15 days, no one cracked up and we are here in front of you for the reform”, he launched, furious, to the LFI deputies, leaving the hemicycle, some singing “we are here, we are here”.
The debates stopped without a vote
“Macron in check in the Assembly. Retirement at 64 has not passed”, reacted even before the end of the debates the leader of LFI Jean-Luc Mélenchon in a blog post. “This reform has no parliamentary legitimacy,” said group president Mathilde Panot to journalists. Unsurprisingly given the number of remaining amendments, mainly rebellious, and the deadline set at midnight, the debates were interrupted very far from the famous article 7 on the postponement of the legal age to 64 years.
Throughout the evening, the discussion focused on the contribution period for retirees who can benefit from the “long career” scheme, that is to say those who entered the world of work before the age of 21. Forty-three or 44? The question has not been clearly settled.
Some of the LR deputies, led by Aurélien Pradié, demand that all workers who started before this age can retire after 43 years of contributions, without the legal age being a barrier. “I will never say before the National Assembly that the contribution period would be a ceiling”, declared Olivier Dussopt, considering that it would be “lying”. “We cannot come out of all this with doubts,” replied Aurélien Pradié, asking for a clear position.
A “disheartening spectacle”
The parliamentary left is divided on the strategy to adopt, environmentalists regretting to AFP “a strategic failure” of LFI. Thursday evening, Jean-Luc Mélenchon had deemed “incomprehensible” the withdrawal of amendments on the left and called on the deputies not to “rush” towards article 7. “Looking forward to getting beaten?” he asked, acknowledging the possibility of the government winning. The unions were urging the left alliance to go through with this key article of the reform bill.
“The National Assembly gives a sorry spectacle, in contempt of the workers. Ashamed”, reacted in the evening the general secretary of the CFDT Laurent Berger. The latest demonstrations gathered Thursday 1.3 million people according to the CGT and 440,000 according to the Ministry of the Interior. This is the lowest figure since the start of the mobilization, pending March 7 when the unions threaten to put the country “at a standstill” if the government does not withdraw the reform. The CGT called on Friday for a renewable strike in the refineries from Monday March 6.
“Who will impose his story?”
On the left, attention is therefore focused on the next mobilizations in the street. “We think of the social movement. I hope the streak won’t weaken him. In 2020 we were exhausted but proud, there not”, blows a source within the communist group. “On March 7, we will make you bend,” promised Matthias Tavel (LFI).
In the hemicycle, the tone had already risen during the day between the government and the National Rally (RN), Marine Le Pen accusing the executive of having the “objective” of “lowering” the incomes of retirees, which challenged Gabriel Attal. “You have no solution to offer the French, and the French see it,” accused the minister.
“It’s going to be sport,” said an elected Renaissance. “The challenge is who will impose his story,” he added, as it seems difficult to say who from the government or the opposition emerges strengthened from this first parliamentary round. The Senate will seize the text on March 2.
AFP
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