By stoking the anger of voters, the explosion in prices at the pump undoubtedly contributed to shaping the second round of the legislative elections, Sunday June 19, and the composition of the National Assembly which results from it.
This could, in turn, threaten the first promise in the agenda of Emmanuel Macron and his coalition: the purchasing power package, the purpose of which is precisely to curb the effects of inflation. For ” protect “ the portfolio of the French, as the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, has repeated over and over again in recent weeks, this package must be broken down into two texts: a collective budget and an ordinary bill.
Initially absent from candidate Macron’s program, the principle of a “exceptional law on purchasing power”, in the words of the Head of State, won before the first round of the presidential election on April 10, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
Extension of the tariff shield on gas and electricity prices, discount of 18 euro cents on fuel until at least the end of August, tripling of the Macron bonus, inflation check for the most modest, early revaluation of social minima and pensions, thawing of the point of index of civil servants… It was also a question of occupying the ground in the face of particularly offensive opposition on the subject.
Ditto for pensions.
A time considered before the legislative elections, the two texts were finally postponed to the end of June or the beginning of July. They suppose to specify the assumptions of growth and debt of the government, and require to convene the Parliament.
This is where the problem lies. This Sunday’s ballot deprives the government of an absolute majority, forcing it to forge alliances to pass its texts. How will the groups of the left alliance vote who, if they have made this subject a priority, propose to respond to it with radically different measures, such as the freezing of prices or the rise in the minimum wage? What will be the attitude of the elected Les Républicains, who could play a pivotal role in the new Assembly? And that of the National Rally, which has made a spectacular breakthrough allowing it to multiply by more than ten its weight at the Palais-Bourbon?
For all parties, the subject of purchasing power, which dominated the entire campaign, is a crucial issue. Questioned before the ballot, the members of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) were careful not to answer, evoking a vote on a case-by-case basis, even article by article. In theory, this subject is less debated in the left-wing coalition than nuclear power or Europe, but the measures proposed by the various signatories differ significantly.
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