In the National Assembly,
Until the end of the end, the suspense will have agitated the National Assembly. Will the pension reform, so decried by public opinion, be put to the vote of the deputies? After hours of hesitation, negotiations, uncertainties, Elisabeth Borne finally gave up tempting fate. Not sure of having a majority on her bill, the Prime Minister finally drew up article 49.3 of the Constitution. This choice, decided at the last minute, is an admission of failure for the head of government, who finds herself more weakened than ever.
“Bunkerized” assembly and calculator
At midday, the important security device around the National Assembly reveals the day of tension that awaits the parliamentarians. Police officers with guns, security vehicles, filter barriers and ram trucks give the Palais Bourbon a very dark look. “It’s Fort Knox. The tension is palpable. There is a rare level of tension in the country”, breathes Philippe Pauget, deputy Les Républicains in favor of the text, the day after an eighth day of mobilization. It is the right, which this Thursday afternoon, has the keys in hand to have or not adopt the reform, already voted this morning even by the majority LR of the Senate. And the elected representative of the Alpes-Maritimes hopes for a favorable outcome. “We improved the text, it’s a question of credibility for the right,” he said.
Inside the “bunkerized” Assembly, the few deputies who venture into the Four Columns room do and redo the calculations. “It will be played with a few voices. The coin is thrown in the air but will Macron dare to catch it in flight? », Quipped Pierre-Henri Dumont, LR deputy opposed to the reform. As time flies, parliamentarians understand that using a 49.3 becomes the most credible track.
Elisabeth Borne KO standing
At 3:00 p.m., the President of the Assembly opens the meeting… to better postpone it. Because Elisabeth Borne and her ministers are not there yet, as if they wanted to delay the moment of truth as much as possible. Five minutes pass, the government enters the arena, under the boos of the left and the right. The Prime Minister goes up to the microphone, but cannot speak, the deputies of Nupes intoning a theatrical Marseillaise at the top of their lungs, soon joined by elected RNs and a few LRs. New break in session. Elisabeth Borne is knocked out standing, and takes long seconds to come down from the podium. She finally goes up there, but her voice is covered by a deafening bronca, when she justifies engaging the responsibility of the government on this text. “We cannot take the risk of seeing the compromise built by the two Assemblies set aside. We can’t bet on the future of our pensions,” she said.
After several crisis meetings at the Elysée, the executive therefore opted for the worst-case scenario, feared by its own majority. “This is the story of a badly embarked bill from the start. However, when the rocket goes sideways, it ends up exploding”, laughs Pierre-Henri Dumont. From the Rassemblement nation to La France insoumise, the opposition denounces an executive at bay. “It is a terrible defeat for the government and a victory for the social movement. This law will not have been passed. This coup is an admission of weakness, which questions the legitimacy of the power in place,” retorts the rebellious deputy and chairman of the Finance Commission, Eric Coquerel. At the same time, thousands of demonstrators gathered a few steps away, Place de la Concorde, to denounce the “forced passage”.
“She must go”
The Prime Minister, who until the end, assured to have a majority for her pension reform, finds herself in the hot seat. “She has to go. Staying would be considered an additional slap in the face of the French people,” said Marine Le Pen, president of the RN group. “She failed to build her majority, it’s an absolute fiasco”, abounds PS deputy Jérôme Guedj.
In the majority, the elected officials are not in a hurry, either, to defend it. “The future of the country is more important to me than the individual future of this or that…”, sweeps a Renaissance deputy. “Although 49.3 is a constitutional tool, we should have gone to the vote”, regrets on Twitter, the elected MoDem Erwan Balanant. “She fought until the end in a difficult context. Is it his fault? It’s not for me to say…”, slips his Renaissance colleague, Pierre Cazeneuve. Several motions of censure tabled by opposition groups could seal its future. Once again, the LR voices will be decisive. Barely recovered from his long day, the executive can take out the calculator.