They debated article after article, amendment after amendment. The deputies have just concluded the first reading examination of part of the government’s pension reform bill. After a first week marked by many tensions, this new flurry of sessions in the chamber was no less rhythmic, between the Minister of Labor described as a “murderer” by an LFI deputy, the rejection of article 2 of the project, or even the motion of censure presented by the RN.
BFMTV.com takes stock of the highlights of the week that has just ended in the National Assembly.
• Olivier Dussopt under pressure and “insults”
The week of debates began with accusations that provoked a strong reaction. The deputy LFI Aurélien Saintoul accused on Monday the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussop being an “impostor” and a “murderer”. Just before, the rebel deputy reproached the minister for having “lied” about the number of deaths at work, also accusing him of a “serious crime”. Shouts resounded in the chamber and the Vice President of the Assembly decreed the suspension of the session.
It resumed almost thirty minutes later with applause for the minister. Several deputies, including Aurore Bergé (Renaissance), Olivier Faure (PS), Cyrielle Chatelain (EELV) or even André Chassaigne (PCF), denounced Aurélien Saintoul’s words, some apologizing.
The LFI deputy eventually “publicly apologized” to the Labor Minister and admitted to having “made a mistake”. Olivier Dussopt said he “heard” them, but felt that “you can’t forgive being called a murderer.” Aurélien Saintoul was sanctioned with a call to order with inscription in the minutes, that is, the withdrawal of a quarter of his parliamentary endowment for a month.
The Minister of Labor intervened for the last time before the end of the first reading debates on the pension reform project in the Assembly, when he got angry with the rebellious deputies. “Ladies and gentlemen LFI deputies. They insulted me for 15 days. Nobody backed down, we are here in front of you for the reform, ”he launched with a hoarse voice.
• Strategy divisions within Nupes
After Elisabeth Borne called on Monday night, in statements to the press, for the “withdrawal” of the “obstruction” amendments and for “the debates to take place in the background and not in invective”, the left-wing coalition Nupes announced to withdraw “a thousand amendments” to advance in the examination pension reform.
In fact, the different parties had presented more than 20,000 amendments to the bill, a significant number that made it difficult to fully review the text of the law before its transfer to the Senate.
Sandrine Rousseau (EELV) justified this first withdrawal of amendments by explaining that she wanted to speed up the discussions on article 2, which deals with the creation of a senior index, but also move to article 3, on the financing of the pension system
On Wednesday night, while the debates on article 3 of the reform relating to the financing of the pension system continue, Nupes once again decided to withdraw a large number of amendments. According to information from BFMTV, there were about 3,000 amendments. The PS indicated that it had withdrawn “90%” of its own until article 7, when in the chamber, Cyrielle Chatelain, president of the environmental group, affirmed that the deputies of the EELV “had already withdrawn more than 400 amendments.” On Thursday morning, it was the communist deputies who announced that they would withdraw some 350 amendments.
But these withdrawals were not enough to examine article 7 that delays the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Elected EELV and Socialists criticized the tactics of rebel France on Friday, environmentalists even spoke of “strategic failure” and then of “disagreement”.
• 43 or 44 years old? Opposition asks for details on long careers
“Can we have an answer?” Asked by more than a dozen deputies about the details of his amendment on long careers and 43 annuities at the center of debates for several days, Olivier Dussopt left the National Assembly with some confusion on Friday night.
At first, the minister did not frankly state that the government had tabled the same amendment as Aurélien Pradié, according to which all long-term careers could retire after 43 annuities.
The lack of response, then the lack of clarity, annoyed the entire opposition, even the extreme right, where the spokesman for the RN group in the Assembly, Thomas Ménagé, again asked for details, denouncing “15 days of lies.”
Olivier Dussopt ended by replying that his amendment was “exactly the same as the one presented by Aurélien Pradié”. The Minister then argued that there would be “no requirement of a period of affiliation to the regime of more than 43 years” for “long careers”. “You are therefore fully satisfied”, claimed the Minister of Labor before being questioned again about the 10,000 million euros that this reform was initially going to cost, according to the Government.
• MEPs reject article 2 of the reform project
The withdrawal of part of the Nupes amendments paid off and allowed legislators to vote on article 2 of the bill on Tuesday night. And suddenly, after hours of debate, the deputies rejected this article, with 203 votes in favor and 256 votes against.
A major setback for the government and the presidential majority, greeted by the opposition who applauded the announcement of the results of the vote and sang the song “Here we are” associated with the Yellow Vests. An attitude described as “unacceptable” by the president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, but repeated by the deputies of the LFI on Friday at the end of the session.
The objective of the index of older people was to improve the place of employees at the end of their careers in companies. A device that looked more like, according to the opposition, an “empty shell” or a “gas plant”.
• Rejected in large part the motion of censure of the RN
Marine Le Pen announced on Wednesday that she had filed a motion of no confidence against the reform bill. A decision that the president of the RN group justified by the lack of time that he made available to the deputies to examine the text and its thousands of amendments.
Through this motion of no confidence, which questions the responsibility of the Government, Marine Le Pen has explained that she wants to “hold a parliamentary referendum in favor or against the pension reform”.
He indicated on BFMTV that he expected the motion to be voted on by Nupes MPs and also asked them to withdraw their numerous amendments. But several members of the left-wing coalition have directly indicated that they would not vote for her, such as Sandrine Rousseau and Olivier Faure.
RN deputy Sébastien Chénu also indicated Wednesday night on BFMTV that if the Nupes were to present one, his party would “obviously” vote for it.
A lost bet. The motion of no confidence was overwhelmingly rejected. Only 89 deputies voted in favour, requiring a minimum of 287 votes.
Source: BFM TV
