Both the executive and the opposition were impatiently awaiting the decision of the Constitutional Council on the pension reform. After three months of political and social crisis, the Elders have validated most of the bill, this Friday at the end of the afternoon, censoring only secondary provisions of the text. The emblematic measure, the gradual postponement of the legal retirement age to 64, will therefore have the force of law as soon as Emmanuel Macron has promulgated the reform. “The text is coming to the end of its democratic process. Tonight there is no winner or loser. reacted Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Twitter, while the shared initiative referendum (RIP), filed by the left, was also rejected. Despite these “hard knocks”, the opposition does not intend to give up.
“The decision of the Constitutional Council was a foregone conclusion, and changes absolutely nothing. The bill is legal, but it remains illegitimate, ”sweeps Antoine Léaument, LFI deputy. It remains to be seen whether this announcement by the Elders will relaunch the movement or, on the contrary, will finish it off. According to the Ministry of the Interior, 380,000 demonstrators marched Thursday in France (1.5 million according to the CGT), for the twelfth day of mobilization since January. This is the second lowest score since the beginning of the movement. “There may be fatigue, money issues related to strikes… It’s a war of attrition, knowing who will give in first… But I don’t think the anger that has been expressed in recent months can go out, ”wants to believe the elected representative of Essonne.
May 1st targeted
In opinion polls, opposition to the government’s bill remains intact. And the unions, which have so far presented a united front against this reform, have made it known that they also intend to continue the “fight”, targeting in particular the date of May 1 to demand the withdrawal of the text or the non-application the increase in age to 64 years. “These announcements are obviously hard blows for the opposition to the text. The hope of a rejected project, which would have forced Emmanuel Macron to receive the unions at the negotiating table in a position of strength, no longer exists, ”says Luc Rouban, researcher at CNRS and Cevipof.
“One of the possibilities now is that the movement hardens. But this risk of radicalization, and possible violence, could work in the direction of the government. It will also be necessary to see if in the days to come, the inter-union does not explode in flight, ”adds Luc Rouban. This week, the boss of the CFDT Laurent Berger already seemed to express doubts about the continuation of the mobilizations in the long term. “It is clear that the CFDT will not demonstrate for six months on this reform”, he said on the set of LCIconsidering however that “we will not be done with the episode of pensions”.
Expected May 3
Within the presidential camp, of course, we are now banking on running out of steam. The executive hopes to quickly close the chapter, by opening other projects on living conditions and remuneration at work. Emmanuel Macron thus invited union and employer representatives next Tuesday to the Elysée Palace to open “the beginning of a new cycle”.
Two different strategies now in the political opposition. On the left, we put our pawns on the mobilization and the second request for RIP, filed later, which will be the subject of a decision by the Constitutional Council on May 3. “The fight continues and must gather its forces,” tweeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
On the side of the National Rally, we are already thinking of the ballot box. “The political fate of the pension reform is not sealed. The people always having the last word, it will be up to them to prepare the alternation which will come back to this useless and unjust reform. »