2023-06-22 10:00:06
The advent, a year ago, of a relative majority in the National Assembly was observed with a benevolent eye by the French, who were clearly seeking to counterbalance the power of Emmanuel Macron, who had just been re-elected for a second mandate. From the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, elected when she was not the candidate for the Elysée, to the presidents of the ten groups, all sought to take advantage of this experience of rebalancing of powers which was not unprecedented under the Fifth Republic but which was a first since the establishment of the five-year term. None, on the other hand, felt the need to publicly draw an initial assessment of this experience. This is regrettable, because while positive things have emerged over the past twelve months, others are obvious threats to Parliament, its image and its usefulness.
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On the positive side, the spirit of compromise so far removed from our political practice was partly tamed with the adoption, during this period, of twenty-nine bills, only three of them requiring a commitment of responsibility on the part of of the government. A whole practice that had been neglected under the previous five-year term has been rehabilitated: the consultation of parliamentarians prior to the drafting of bills, the co-construction of texts with groups not belonging to the majority but ready to commit punctually .
Initiatives of parliamentary origin have been valued, such as the Valletoux bill aimed at combating medical deserts. Carried out at Matignon, in the ministries and in the closed enclosure of the parliamentary committees, this patient work of retricotage has largely escaped the general public, who retains from this first year the perception of a Hemicycle perpetually under tension.
Forced passage
Dramatization has always been part of the parliamentary game, but when obstruction, outbursts and even insults take precedence over the debate, Parliament puts itself in danger. Powerless to channel violence, he caricatures himself. The climate in which the discussion took place around the draft law on pensions calls for critical examination both, at the instigation of La France insoumise then of the left as a whole, then of the Liberté, Indépendants, Outremer et territories (LIOT), it turned into a confrontation without debate between two legitimacies, that of the executive and that of Parliament.
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The government bears the indelible scar of a passage in force, but the National Assembly has gained nothing in exchange. Its president was weakened, an unprecedented salvo of sanctions was distributed, the atmosphere within the office deteriorated sharply. While a consensus existed at the beginning of the legislature to consider that plurality is an asset to reduce the democratic crisis, the fear of deadlock dominates, no opponent being able to bring about an alternative majority.
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If the objective was to revalorize parliamentary democracy, the account is not there. Failing to find a more responsible modus vivendi, there is even a risk that this assembly will end up in discredit, either because the government will contrive to circumvent it, or because the French will get tired of the spectacle given. This situation benefits above all the 88 deputies of the National Rally, who simultaneously play the card of notabilisation and that of rotting. You have to be blind not to see it.
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