A minister who truncates the debates in the Senate. Olivier Dussopt activated article 44.3 of the Constitution this Friday at noon. This parliamentary cartridge allows to speed up the senatorial debates with what is called “blocked vote”.
This provision, triggered at the request of the executive, allows “a single vote on all or part of the text under discussion, keeping only the reforms proposed or accepted by the government”, can be read in the Constitution.
Shorten the duration of discussions
Clearly, this maneuver is aimed at allowing the executive to request a one-time vote on the version of the text it wishes to adopt.
However, it does not restrict the ability of MPs to defend their amendments, a constitutional right. But they are not subject to a vote by parliamentarians, which greatly shortens the duration of the examination of the text.
If the government wants to go much faster, it is because it absolutely needs the vote of the Senate, which only has until midnight on Sunday to examine the text. The National Assembly failed to carry out the examination of the reform, stopping at article 2 of the twenty contained in the text.
“An admission of weakness” for the left
Suffice it to say that in the absence of a vote in the Senate, which is very favorable to raising the retirement age, the bill would not have parliamentary legitimacy on first reading.
If not new, the use of 44.3 is relatively rare. It was used twice during the previous pension reforms carried out by Éric Woerth in 2010 and by Marisol Touraine in 2013. Enough to arouse the ire of the senatorial left. Patrick Kanner, the president of the socialist group denounced “reactionary maneuvers”.
“What an admission of weakness (…) The senatorial majority has become the government’s dog,” lamented Guillaume Gontard, the number 1 environmental senator in the Senate.
“Only the simpletons of LR could believe in the dialogue with Macron. He tamed Bruno Retailleau. In the Assembly, Éric Ciotti can go buy his strap,” he said. writes Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Unions in the same position. “This text is gradually losing its political legitimacy,” UNSA chief Roland Escure said. The blocked vote could give rise to an “escalation”, warns the CGT Energía.
Other provisions have already been activated to go faster
The use of this constitutional weapon comes after very heated debates in the Luxembourg Palace, but hardly used to living under tension. Olivier Dussopt has already activated article 44.2 of the Constitution on Thursday to oppose the examination of amendments that have not been presented before the previous social affairs commission.
The right, the majority in the Senate, is not stingy with the use of the tools at its disposal. Very annoyed by the left, which for a long time has rejected long careers and the lowering of the entry age to 64 years, the head of the LR senators activated article 38 of the internal regulations of the Senate. This provision limits the number of speakers of opposing views to two senators per amendment.
“The cause of the blocked vote is you”
What makes Bruno Retailleau say that “the application of the blocked vote is the Constitution”. “It is not an illiberal application of our fundamental law. The cause of the blocked vote is you, it is your obstruction, ”he replied to the left.
The socialists, environmentalists and communists -LFI does not have a group in the Senate- will announce their disagreement this Friday afternoon in a joint press conference.
Source: BFM TV
