Is the minister having a bad time, six months after the adoption of the very flammable pension reform? A few hours before the start of the process against Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labor, accused of favoritism in the awarding of a public water contract when he was mayor in 2009, maintains a low profile.
In statements to BFMTV, he assures that this trial is not “a pleasant or deserved moment” and confides in his “only objective: to be relaxed.” But this speech appears at the end of a sequence of several more than discreet weeks.
“We have the impression that he has disconnected. He seems more modest, less combative. Obviously, he does not want to show himself,” says PS deputy Jérôme Guedj, who has frequented him for a long time. in the seats of the Assembly.
“Don’t take in too much light before your trial.”
These last weeks, however, should have marked the great return of this former socialist since his retirement at the age of 64, from which he had promised to have emerged “neither squeezed nor weakened.” Last November, together with him, Gérald Darmanin presented the immigration bill with a strong division of tasks.
To the Minister of the Interior, the negotiations with the right, to the former close friend of Martine Aubry, the work of conviction with the left. Enough to hope to convince widely in an Assembly without a relative majority.
But in the end there was no sign of Olivier Dussopt during the hours of debate in the Senate. To the point that Patrick Kanner, the head of the socialist senators, launched a “want notice” in the chamber.
“He didn’t want to come to light before his trial. You can be sure that the issue would have been brought up by his opponents in the Senate. I wanted to avoid it, but I heard that that was not what we had in mind,” acknowledges one macronist deputy.
“Five laws” in one year
We should hardly see it anymore when the immigration bill reaches the House on December 11. The deputies of the legal commission currently working on the text met it last Wednesday during a breakfast in Place Beauvau with the Minister of the Interior.
However, the former deputy mayor of Annonay has obtained good results in recent days in the National Assembly, in particular with the approval of the full employment bill and the text on the distribution of value that should facilitate the participation of workers in the profits of companies, and this, with the Voices of the left.
A rarity that could have pushed him to increase his appearances in the media. The minister, however, contented himself with a simple tweet, giving the impression of a certain fatigue.
“In total, he has enacted five laws in one year. I don’t think any member of the Government has this record,” defends Olivier Dussopt’s entourage.
The anger of the unions
“He is working on the launch of France travail, which will replace Pôle emploi. He spends his time exchanging with the social partners,” analyzes Charlotte Parmentier-Lecocq, president of Renaissance’s Social Affairs commission.
To have. The reform of compensation for work accidents and occupational diseases was postponed indefinitely by the minister last week.
However, it was to allow the government to demonstrate that dialogue had resumed after months of extremely tense exchanges during the retreats. The Minister even promised to faithfully transpose national agreements drawn up by the social partners into law.
“Demonetized”
“Indifference” for the CFDT, “discouragement” for the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises… The news does not go down well in the ranks of the central companies.
“Olivier Dussopt does what he can, but he appears demonetized to many unions who have the impression that he is no longer in control and that the government thinks more about reducing benefits for the unemployed than about anything else,” observes an expert. of the file.
Bruno Le Maire’s publication this Thursday in France Info should not take away this feeling. The Minister of Economy asked to reduce compensation to the unemployed over 55 years of age who have the right to receive unemployment for longer than the rest of the active population.
“I no longer have control”
An exception that is justified by its much higher unemployment rate. In 2022, 56% of people between 55 and 64 years old were employed compared to 81.8% of people between 25 and 49 years old, according to figures from the Ministry of Labor.
“We are just a few months away from retiring at 64, which will force older people who are out of work to remain unemployed for longer and Olivier Dussopt is not saying anything,” Senator Patrick Kanner gets angry.
“Do we have better evidence that he is no longer in charge?” the parliamentarian still asks.
Justice could quickly give its answer. If found guilty, the minister would be forced to resign.
Source: BFM TV
