the left presents a second request for a referendum of shared initiative

Members of the police guard the Constitutional Council during the twelfth day of mobilization against the pension reform, Thursday, April 13, in Paris. STEPHANE MAHE / REUTERS

On the eve of the decision of the Constitutional Council, deputies and senators on the left launched Thursday, April 13 a second request for a referendum of shared initiative (RIP) on the reform of pensions, a text more ” secure “ in legal terms, they say, than the first claim on which the nine rue de Montpensier judges rule on Friday.

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“The text has been deposited on the desk of the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher”said the president of the socialist group in the Senate, Patrick Kanner, confirming information from the Public Senate. “The objective is for this text to be sent to the Constitutional Council tomorrow, [vendredi] before the possible promulgation of the reform”he specified.

“As part of the so-called shared initiative referendum procedure, the Constitutional Council received on Thursday, April 13, 2023 from the President of the Senate transmission of a new proposal (…) aimed at prohibiting a legal retirement age above 62 years”announced the institution in the early evening.

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“Belt and suspenders”

“It’s the same text” as the first request, supplemented by a second article “which creates an element of reform: a tax revenue linked to capital resources to secure the financing of the pay-as-you-go pension”. This in order to compensate “possible weakness” of the first request.

The shared initiative referendum is a particularly complex procedure. Its deposit requires the signature of more than 185 deputies and senators. Some 250 parliamentarians had filed the first request. “Perhaps RIP n° 1 will be validated, it is not impossible, but after debate between the left groups, we decided to add an article which leads to greater security”added M. Kanner.

“Belt and suspenders. We want to secure the drafting in order to give ourselves the maximum of chances, this is the meaning of the filing of a second text”, confirmed a socialist source in the National Assembly. On Friday, the Constitutional Council must decide both whether or not to give the green light to this procedure and whether or not to censure the reform, or some of its provisions.

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The World with AFP