No less than four ministers stepped up to the plate, Monday, February 13, against “systematic obstruction” of La France insoumise (LFI) on the pension file. Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, claimed on RTL that “LFI withdraws its thousands of amendments” which deprive France “of a healthy, clear democratic debate that our compatriots are entitled to have on the reform”.
#Retreats: “The debate is a prisoner of the heckling, not to say the chaos, that LFI has put in Parliament! France… https://t.co/Ut7PRaNN0n
“Today, La France insoumise is an obstacle to the healthy, clear democratic debate that our compatriots are entitled to have on pension reform”, he assured, not however citing the New Popular Ecological and Social Union, the left-wing alliance of which it is a part with the Socialist Party, the French Communist Party and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts. Mr. The Mayor also returned to the controversy provoked last week by the deputy Thomas Portes (LFI), excluded fifteen days from the Meeting for a controversial tweet about the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt. “It is unworthy of a great democracy that a parliamentarian with his tricolor scarf slung over his shoulder plays with the head of a member of the government”, denounced the minister. Bearer of the reform, Olivier Dussopt, invited him on Franceinfo, Monday morning, added: “We are facing a systematic obstruction of the coalition around La France insoumise. »
The unions denounce the “bullshit” of the obstruction
Under pressure from the streets and the unions, who are waving the threat of a “France at a standstill” on March 7, the debates restart this Monday at 4 p.m. in the Assembly. Whether or not the deputies have completed the examination of the bill, the discussions will end Friday at midnight on first reading. The text will then go to the Senate. The debates will be punctuated, Thursday, February 16, by a fifth day of action at the call of the inter-union.
Drowned under the 15,800 remaining amendments, will the deputies reach at least Article 7 on the postponement of the legal retirement age to 64? “If the oppositions want us to be able to talk about age, it’s up to them to withdraw their obstructionist amendments so that we can get to Article 7”warned the Minister of Labor.
“If you withdraw all your bogus amendments, we will be able to go to article 7 which is fundamental and which worries the French”, launched Monday for his part on France Inter, the vice-president of the Assembly, Sébastien Chenu (National Rally). This is also what the unions are calling for in chorus.
On Sunday, the secretary general of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), Laurent Berger, denounced on RTL the “bullshit” of the obstruction, targeting La France insoumise at the origin of the majority of the amendments tabled. He also lamented the « spectacle lamentable » to the Assembly, which has no “nothing to do with the dignity of the street movement”. “We want there to be a vote on Article 7”abounded Monday on BFM-TV, the leader of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martinez, so that “every deputy can express himself” on lengthening at age 64.
New call to tax superprofits
Facing the specter of a “France at a standstill” agitated by the inter-union, the president of the deputies Renaissance, Aurore Bergé, affirmed Sunday on BFM-TV that “paralyzing and blocking the country would be counterproductive”. The same day, the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, repeated the line of the executive: ” need “ the postponement of the legal age to 64 and ” listen “ to strengthen the system « index senior » during parliamentary debates, in order to encourage companies to keep the over 55s in employment.
It is precisely on the employment of older employees that the deputies resume their work on Monday, with a flurry of amendments in all camps. La Nupes then intends to defend its tracks from “alternative financing” for pensions, with a new call to tax the superprofits of the biggest corporations. Since this summer, this debate has been recurrent in the Assembly, where the presidential camp only has a relative majority. However, the first votes rather reassured the macronists about the forces present in the hemicycle.
The left then put on the endurance of the street to stand up to the government. Saturday evening on his blog, the leader of LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, proposed to the unions, “a new convergence” with “a call for a rally on a Saturday or Sunday in March to surround the action en masse”.