Trying to get out of the political and social crisis. After the tenth day of mobilization against the pension reform, the Executive wants to escape the trap and counts on Emmanuel Macron more than ever, after rejecting the outstretched hand of Laurent Berger.
There is urgency: if the number of protesters drops, it is the seventh day of ten of inter-union mobilization to exceed 2 million protesters throughout France according to CGT figures.
“We cannot draw any conclusion from this. The mobilizations fell in February, to rise again at the beginning of March,” a senior executive told BFMTV.
No “to the stoppage disguised as the reform”
But almost more than the mobilization of this day, it is above all the distance exchange between Laurent Berger and Olivier Véran that made the majority phosphorize. The number 1 of the CFDT raised “mediation” this Tuesday morning by proposing “a month, a month and a half” of discussions around “3 or 4 people.”
Government spokesman’s response a few hours later: “We don’t necessarily need mediation to talk to each other. We can talk to each other directly.” A logical gesture for Macronie, who wants to carry out his reform at all costs.
“Laurent Berger proposes a break disguised as the reform. Behind the sweet words, there is the end of the reform, which is a red line for us,” deciphers a Renaissance deputy.
“Don’t fall into the trap” of the CFDT
For another parliamentarian, the trade unionist’s strategy reflects the president’s desire to “go all the way.” “He is no longer asking for withdrawal, but for respite. He knows that this is not possible. That is precisely why he is doing it, so he can say that it is a new end of inadmissibility ”, explains this elect.
Some, however, within the presidential majority would have appreciated seeing this outstretched hand grasped, such as the Renaissance deputy Stella Dupont or Jean-Paul Mattéi, the president of the modern deputies.
But, after a call from the prime minister, the centrist finally backed down, according to information from BFMTV. Subtitle of a macronista: “Laurent Berger catches us, and some like Jean-Paul Mattéi, fall for it”.
“A Suspended Time”
Another is less severe. “The deputies are also looking for a way out, you have to understand them, they are being attacked even in their constituencies.” Several elected officials have been subjected to threats, including Violette Spillebout, who saw her house boarded up.
The only way out of the crisis for the moment that the president mentions: that of turning around while waiting for the decision of the Constitutional Council. The institution should decide in mid-April on the text with several options.
Among these, is the most favorable to the government: the reform is only censored in some articles and the government will be able to promulgate it. Another, much more complicated possibility: the bill is censored in its entirety, as some constitutionalists imagine. “We are already in a suspended time,” a ministerial adviser wants to believe.
“If you haven’t changed, it’s time to change”
Which gives air to Elisabeth Borne, who consults everywhere after having escaped by only 9 votes near the vote on a motion of no confidence. To save her head at Matignon, the Prime Minister seeks to convince her own camp that she is still in her place, before facing opposition and eventually the unions.
“If it doesn’t work, the president will draw the consequences. If we see that it has not changed, it will be time to change more globally”, deciphers another close to the executive.
However, it seems unlikely that the “method” of the head of government will fundamentally change the political situation. Éric Ciotti has already advanced that “it is not a question” of a government agreement with the LR while the unions want to discuss pensions with the Prime Minister. The head of government limits herself to wanting to talk only about the future full employment bill. She is not enough to satisfy the centrals.
“Unable” to say what will happen
Test of environmental skepticism: “we feel that something is going to happen, but what? I can’t tell you,” judges a minister.
Another wants to be more effective: “Macronie has not yet come out of that magical thinking that leads us to say we are waiting for the great idea. We hope that the president finds something to step aside, as he always has.” he does. “
“No good idea comes up”
In the president’s camp, some are hoping for an idea that can resemble the sequence of the great debate launched to quench the yellow vest crisis. Although he acknowledges a certain impotence. “We are looking for THE good idea, but at the moment it has not arisen”.
Concern is rising in the ranks of the macronie as the week’s Emmanuel Macron interview during the 1pm TV news barely made it to print. “There is no more bandwidth. The only solution is to create a surprise. In the meantime, we are entrenching ourselves.”
Others count on a rottenness of the movement, imagining it glazed with violence between police and protesters:
“One can reasonably think that after the decision of the Constitutional Council, only the hardliners will remain on the streets.”
The bet seems risky, to say the least, since the inter-union calls for an eleventh day of mobilization on April 6.
Source: BFM TV
