Some believe that the gesture was necessary, others consider that the price of this concession is too high. Sébastien Lecornu divided his camp by proposing this Tuesday, October 14, during his general policy statement, to suspend the pension reform until January 1, 2028.
This decision, although it will allow the Prime Minister to avoid censure from the Socialist Party before examining the budget, is tantamount to attacking the emblematic law of Emmanuel Macron’s second five-year term.
A “big mistake”, according to Olivier Dussopt
The issue is all the more delicate for members of the presidential camp who defended the gradual transition to retirement at age 64, necessary in their eyes to balance our pay-as-you-go system, at the cost of a painful adoption of 49.3 and a massive social protest.
Many had soaked their shirts in a boiling chamber. Among them, Élisabeth Borne and Olivier Dussopt, respectively Head of Government and Minister of Labor during the debates. The duo alone illustrates the shared feeling within the macro snow. Last week one was in favor of a suspension, with Le Parisien considering that “in the current context, to move forward, you have to know how to listen and move.”
The other described this Tuesday, in the same newspaper, Sébastien Lecornu’s proposal as a “big mistake.” Olivier Dussopt, who did not represent himself in his Ardèche constituency in the last legislative elections, believes that “a political compromise cannot be built on a denial of accounts and on the backs of future generations.”
“No one can say that the president is crazy”
Contacted by BFMTV, a historical Macronist is in the same line. “Returning solely to structural reform is a solution that will pay for itself over time,” he predicts. “It smells bad for public finances,” our interlocutor also believes, worried about “other setbacks or concessions.”
Because, in addition to proposing the suspension of the pension reform, Sébastien Lecornu confirmed that he would not use article 49.3 – which allows a text to be adopted without a vote by deputies – during the examination of the budget, which could allow the opposition to modify the budget copy.
However, another historic Macronist welcomes the suspension decided by the Prime Minister. “No one can say anymore that the President of the Republic is a crazy man who doesn’t listen and doesn’t change anything. Few believed him, but he really left the Prime Minister free and responsible,” he greets and adds:
“It does not change the substance of what the President of the Republic thinks, who took the risk of saying ‘I propose in his program retirement at age 65 in 2022’. But it is about lucidity about the balance of political power and a social demand.”
With this concession, Sébastien Lecornu should pass the test of the motions of censure of the National Rally and France Insoumise, which will be examined this Thursday in the National Assembly. A welcome respite for the head of government, but short-lived, as the budget test also promises to be high risk.
Source: BFM TV
