Olivier Dussopt described as a “murderer” by an LFI deputy, Thomas Portes posing with one foot on a ball with the image of the Minister of Labour, boos against Adrien Quatennens… The riots and controversies have multiplied in the National Assembly since the beginning of the debates on the pension reform.
A tense climate that the majority of the French say they are shocked, according to a new survey “L’Opinion en direct” carried out by the Elabe Institute for BFMTV. In detail, 55% of those surveyed say they are impacted by the way the debates are carried out in the Assembly, including 29% quite impacted and 26% very impacted.
By contrast, 27% are not surprised. Finally, 18% say they have not followed the debates in the Assembly.
Emmanuel Macron voters particularly shocked
It is Emmanuel Macron’s voters who are most likely to be surprised (77%). 51% of Marine Le Pen’s supporters are also, like 48% of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s voters.
Furthermore, the proportion of French people shocked by the weather in the National Assembly increases with the age of the respondents. It affects 72% of people aged 65 and over, compared with 56% of people aged 50-64 and 44% of people under 50.
Is the government responsible for this climate?
As for the responsibility for this bad climate in the Hemicycle, 55% of the French attribute it to the government, which, according to them, has not left enough time to debate and examine the law.
On the contrary, 43% of those surveyed believe that it is the opposition that is responsible, in particular with regard to the comments and behavior of the deputies of La France Insoumise.
Rebel MPs tabled several thousand amendments to the government bill. A behavior that points to the “obstruction” of the debates, according to the majority. They are also at the center of various controversies, such as that of Aurélien Saintoul, who described Olivier Dussopt as an “impostor” and “murderer”, or Thomas Portes, excluded from the Assembly for 15 days after posting a photo on Twitter setting foot in a ball with the image of the Minister of Labor.
Results correlated with the political color of the respondents
The accusation of responsibility for the climate of the Assembly can be read according to the political color of the French people in question. In fact, a large majority of voters for Jean-Luc Mélenchon (83%) and Marine Le Pen (64%) believe that the government is responsible, while on the contrary Emmanuel Macron voters declare that it is the ‘opposition’.
This result is also correlated with the opinion of those surveyed on the pension reform. For 70% of the opponents of the reform, the government is responsible, while 70% of the French who are in favor believe that the opposition deputies are responsible for this climate.
The debates in the Assembly must continue until February 17, before the text is examined by the Senate from February 18.
Survey conducted online from February 14 to 15, 2023, with a sample of 1,000 people representative of the residents of mainland France over 18 years of age. The representativeness of the sample was ensured according to the quota method applied to the following variables: sex, age and profession of the interviewee, prior stratification by region and agglomeration category.
Source: BFM TV
