After the crisis, the way out of the crisis? Weakened by the protest against the pension reform, Elisabeth Borne is aiming for reassembled. The Prime Minister opened Monday a series of consultations over three weeks with parliamentarians, political parties, representatives of local elected officials and social partners.
As a new day of protest takes place on Tuesday, the head of government said she wanted to “appease the country” and “discuss with all the actors on the method”, in an interview broadcast on Sunday evening by AFP. But can she really regain control? We come back to the difficult challenges that await Elisabeth Borne.
Reassure its majority (and Emmanuel Macron)
First stage of the battle plan: reassure the presidential camp. After weeks of negotiations with the right to obtain a majority in the Assembly, Elisabeth Borne finally used 49.3 to have the text on pensions adopted. A personal failure that led to doubts about his future, even in his own camp. “She fought until the end in a difficult context. Is it his fault? It’s not for me to say… ”, wondered in particular the Renaissance deputy Pierre Cazeneuve.
To dispel doubts, the Prime Minister has therefore devised “an action plan” for the coming weeks. An agenda presented this Monday noon to Emmanuel Macron, then to macronist executives, including the bosses of parliamentary groups, party leaders and some members of government. “I am at work and listening […] We really want to prioritize a few subjects to quickly obtain concrete results for the French people, ”she told AFP.
Level of difficulty: intermediate
If she seems to have left feathers in the sequence on pensions, Elisabeth Borne still keeps the “confidence” of Emmanuel Macron. A significant respite of several weeks to hope to regain the confidence of his troops.
Expand the presidential majority
During his speech last Wednesday, the Head of State also asked his Prime Minister to “expand” the presidential majority. Elisabeth Borne warned on Sunday that she would do everything to avoid a new political crisis: “The method that I set for the future is: no 49.3 outside the financial texts”, she assured, whereas the Constitution already provides for only one use of this tool per parliamentary session outside the budget.
But it intends above all to show that the all-out consultations aim to find allies, in particular on the right of the hemicycle. “The objective is to continue to unite around a majority of progress. We did it with the right on purchasing power, and with the left on renewable energies in particular; we will continue, ”confirms Prisca Thévenot, deputy for Hauts-de-Seine and spokesperson for Renaissance.
Difficulty level: high
Since the beginning of the legislature, “11 bills have been definitively adopted and 12 private bills”, while 49.3 has only been used “on three texts only”, specified the Prime Minister. But Les Républicains, weakened by their internal bickering, have already indicated that they will no longer make any gift to Elisabeth Borne.
Bringing unions to the table
Elisabeth Borne also reached out to the unions. The Prime Minister hopes to resume the dialogue within the framework of a future Labor law. “We have to find the right path […] and that we can resume work on all these sites” of hardship, professional retraining. She indicates that she has even found a place in her diary to meet with trade unions and employers’ organizations the week of April 10.
But the union representatives did not really welcome the invitation warmly. The leader of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, again warned Monday that he would only accept “the outstretched hand” of Elisabeth Borne if the government takes a break, by “putting aside the reform for the moment”. The CGT is even more inflexible, even if the central should experience a few days of uncertainty before the designation on Friday of its future leader, replacing Philippe Martinez.
Level of difficulty: very high
Bringing all the unions around the table looks very difficult today, as the protest against pensions does not weaken in the street. By claiming that no union had offered a “compromise” to the executive on this text, Emmanuel Macron did not really help his Prime Minister.