Before the microphone of ICI Besançon, the Minister of Agriculture and deputy for the fifth constituency of Doubs, Annie Genevard (LR), reacted to the suspension of the pension reform, both on the legal retirement age and on the duration of contributions, announced by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, this Tuesday, October 14.
He argued that a reform of the pension system was “indispensable”, while recognizing that the Prime Minister had no choice but to avoid censure of his government by the Socialist Party (PS).
“I still think that a reform of our pension system is essential to ensure its sustainability and maintenance,” he said, before adding that Sébastien Lecornu was “well prepared to put this issue back into public debate.”
A fervent defender of the pension reform adopted in 2023, the minister, re-elected by Sébastien Lecornu to his ministry, recognizes, however, that “it is absolutely necessary to stabilize the ship.” He adds that “suspension does not mean repeal.”
“I remind you that, in any case, we are forced to reform pensions given the growing number of retirees and the decreasing number of contributors,” he warns.
Excluded from Republicans
All LR ministers who entered or remained in the government were excluded by the party this Sunday, October 12. Among them, Annie Genevard, appointed to the Ministry of Agriculture by Michel Barnier on September 21, 2024, before being re-appointed by the Bayrou government, then by Lecornu I and Lecornu II.
Questioned by ICI Besançon about her exclusion, she claims to have made “a difficult decision” and that “the captain does not abandon the ship in the middle of a storm.”
And while bovine epidermis currently affects Franche-Comté, with two outbreaks discovered in the Jura and an extension of the restricted areas to the Doubs and Haute-Saône, the minister claims to be “working.”
“If I had left the ministry, a new minister, a new cabinet, time to read the files, to adapt… I would be immediately at work,” he adds.
Source: BFM TV
