After a “successful” day of mobilization against the pension reform last Thursday, the political opposition is getting organized within the hemicycle. On the initiative of the elected Communists, a hundred deputies of the Nupes filed Monday a request for a referendum on the text. The request should be debated by the National Assembly on February 6, before the start of the general discussion. Marine Le Pen also announced that the National Rally group would table such a motion to submit this “horribly brutal” text, in her words, to the vote of the French. What is the procedure? Does such a referendum have a chance of succeeding? We take stock.
How it works ?
This device makes it possible to suspend the examination of a bill in order to submit the text to a referendum. According to article 122 of the regulations of the National Assembly, the referendum motion must relate to specific subjects: the organization of public powers, reforms relating to economic, social or environmental policy, or to validate a treaty on the functioning of institutions. It must be signed by at least one tenth of the members of the Assembly in order to be debated. If it is deemed admissible, and in the event of adoption at the Bourbon Palace, the motion is immediately transmitted to the Senate, which has thirty days to vote on it. In the event of adoption by the two Chambers, the text is transmitted to the President of the Republic, who can choose to submit it, or not, to a referendum.
Any chance of succeeding?
Not really. The motion already has little chance of being voted on in the National Assembly and perhaps even less in the Senate, held by the right. This Tuesday at a press conference, the boss of LR deputies, Olivier Marleix, also brushed aside the idea: “I am attached to the referendum, but on the part of this Assembly, it would be to acknowledge that it is useless . It is up to the deputies to assume their responsibility, ”he said, before ironizing. “Are you going to hold a referendum asking people also if they want to pay more taxes? It’s a joke “. Same tone on the side of the majority. “That’s very clever… asking people if they want to work more… You can’t put everything to a referendum. Are you going to ask the turkeys what they think of Christmas? “, questions, ironically, Erwan Balanant, MoDem deputy of Finistère.
So what ?
“We have to come out of this crisis from above. This is the reason why we propose to give the floor back to the people and to do so by way of a referendum”, insisted on Tuesday on Cnews Fabien Roussel, deputy for the North and boss of the French Communist Party. If the procedure has almost no chance of going to the end, the left wishes to use it to increase the pressure on the executive. “We use all possible tools. It fits into the story put forward by the Nupes, it refers to the legitimacy of this reform, its injustice. We say to the government: if you are so sure of your shot, then hold a referendum! “, Details Ugo Bernalicis, LFI deputy from the North, while a large majority of French people are today opposed to the bill.
Taunted on this subject by the elected Nupes during questions to the government, the minister in charge of reform, Olivier Dussopt, referred to the election of Emmanuel Macron in May 2022: “During the presidential election, the president of the Republic, then candidate, indicated in a particularly clear way its will to carry out a reform of the pensions”.