Dramatic change Monday evening, shortly after midnight: the examination of the bill on the vaccine pass was the subject of a surprise suspension by the Assembly. A majority of deputies refused the continuation of the debates, according to a count of the chairman of the session.
It will now be up to the conference of parliamentary group presidents to include the rest of the examination of the text on the Assembly’s agenda. Still, this halt should derail the schedule for the final adoption of the text by parliament, after a day marked by an electric atmosphere in the hemicycle.
Mélenchon denounces a “punctured racket”
This Monday afternoon, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, looking serious, went up to the platform to don one of his favorite costumes: that of the tribune. For nearly a quarter of an hour, the leader of the Insoumis thundered against the government’s bill on the vaccine pass, a device he judges to be “100% ineffective”, a “punctured racket”. He defended, with his group and in vain, a motion of preliminary rejection against the vaccine pass. Angry, the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône was carried away against a text causing “chaos, mayhem everywhere!” “
“This is no way to fight a health crisis. Now the people who work in bars and restaurants are going to check the identity. But what world are we going to live in at the end? Everyone will control everyone. This is a totalitarian society, an authoritarian society! “, He denounced. And to mock, mockingly, “measures of coercion coated with gossip on those who have the right to eat popcorn or not at the cinema, or who must drink their coffee standing or sitting”. He defends “freedom, which is the best protection”.
Veran denounces the populism of part of the opposition
These attacks, Olivier Véran responded to them, in a stormy climate, by referring the Insubordinate to an “anthology” of his past statements. “You compared the RNA vaccine to frozen foods sold in supermarkets (…). You said at the onset of the attack that you would take chloroquine if you were sick. Would you do it today? Asked the Minister of Health. Before comparing the “political maneuver” of the Insoumis to those of “Mr. Dupont-Aignan, Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Philippot, who flatters those who are afraid to instruct them in fear, even if the virus circulates more ”. To finish by comparing him to “Jair Bolsonaro” and “Donald Trump”. After the suspension shortly after midnight, Jean-Luc Mélenchon tackled the Minister of Health in a tweet, believing that “Véran receives a correction”. Damien Abad, the president of the LR group, for his part referred to a “big snub for the En Marche majority and the government”.
VIDEO. Omicron: “Perhaps this is the last wave”, advances Véran in front of the deputies
Shortly before this electric atmosphere, Olivier Véran had again alerted against the “Omicron tidal wave”, calling it “vertiginous”. An example: “Between the beginning and the end of my intervention, and you will see that it is not very long, more than 1,000 of our compatriots will have been diagnosed positive. “To defend this bill which is the subject of more than 650 amendments, the minister therefore argued for a text of” coolness and responsibility “to stem the tide and avoid disorganization of the country.
“Show that the government is united and ready to maneuver”
A fear shared at the highest peak of the state. Around 4 p.m., a meeting was held in Matignon under the aegis of Jean Castex in the presence of ten ministers. Jean Castex recalled “the importance of ensuring the continuity of public services despite the potential absenteeism due to the multiplication of contaminations”.
It is to “measure and anticipate any difficulties”, according to those around him, that this meeting was called. Another, in the same format and with the same agenda, will be held again Thursday around the Prime Minister, who insisted on “the importance of having a clear vision, day by day, on the reality of the ‘absenteeism, by departments and by services’ in the words of those around him. Each minister was asked to make an inventory of absenteeism sector by sector.
“There is real concern, because there is a risk of disorganization due to the multiplication of cases, blows an adviser to the executive. We have to see if there are any difficulties. It’s also a lot of communication, it’s important to show that the government is united and in the maneuver. “Less than 100 days before the presidential election, public services or an economy at a standstill would be a dark scenario for Emmanuel Macron …