It’s past midnight. Olivier Dussopt remains alone, frozen, in a suddenly silent Hemicycle. The deputies withdrew after seventy-three and a half hours of jousting and tussling around the pension reform. On the night of Friday February 17 to Saturday February 18, the Minister of Labor, still stunned by the violence of the debates, took a deep breath. “You have finished your journey in hell”congratulates Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, minister responsible for the health professions, massaging his neck.
A journey that looks like a painful marathon, including the former socialist, voice muted, herbal tea on the bench and scarf tight around his neck like a neck brace, covered the last meters struggling to unfold his legs to give the reply. “Laryngitis is worse than La France insoumise »he lets go to relax the atmosphere.
A moment before, Olivier Dussopt closed the debates with a howl to tear his vocal cords, while a hedge of ushers formed a barrier of their bodies between him and the “rebellious” deputies who rose singing We are here !. Caught between the air associated with the “yellow vests” to his left, and The Marseillaise intoned by the majority up to the extreme right, it then vociferates, scarlet red: “Nobody cracked! Nobody cracked, and we are there, in front of you, for the reform! »
M. Dussopt forgets nothing and does not forgive. Nor the vision of the LFI deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Thomas Portes, who photographed his foot proudly resting on a balloon representing the head of the minister. Nor the insult of “murderer” uttered by his “rebellious” colleague from Hauts-de-Seine Aurélien Saintoul – even if the latter apologized for it. That day, the Minister left the Hemicycle, kicking a door in rage. The episode welded Macronie. And beyond. Until this stunning scene of parliamentary life: Marine Le Pen standing, applauded by the deputies of the majority, when she had just raised her group in support of the mistreated minister.
“A Tough Guy”
A little later, Olivier Dussopt meets the representative of the far right in a hallway. “Thank you for your words”he said to him. ” It’s normal “, she replies tit for tat. The Ardéchois forgets nothing. A few days later, calm returned. “She was much more Republican than many others at that time”justifies the former socialist to the Mondetargeting “part of the left”.
In his sights: the troops of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whom he perceives as predators smelling the smell of blood. He compares himself to a wounded animal, remembering the advice of his father-in-law, hunter of hares and wild boars, not to kill an animal halfway. He is not “not a bunny”he warns. “Just because I have a small voice doesn’t mean I don’t have character. You don’t have to overplay absolute virilism to be tough.”claims the former mayor of Annonay (Ardèche), described by his friends as a “hard to hurt”.
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