Three months of debate. Then it’s time for adoption. This is the roadmap drawn by the Élysée to the deputies before detailing the content of the pension reform. In the event of the adoption by the deputies of a motion of censure – itself subject to the use of article “49.3” of the Constitution –, Emmanuel Macron will not hesitate to dissolve the National Assembly. This is the message communicated on Thursday, September 29, a day of social mobilization which focused, among other things, on the question of pensions.
“Macron threatens to dissolve ‘instantly’ the Parliament if the deputies block its pension reform”, announcement The Daily Telegraph United Kingdom. This message, notes the conservative daily “gave rise to comparisons with the suspension of Parliament by Boris Johnson”. In 2019, the British Prime Minister played with fire by asking the Queen to suspend Parliament, to keep control of the Brexit process, at the risk of causing an early election.
A flammable context
The opposition, for its part, responded to the threats by brandishing another specter: “The dissolution of Parliament would bring the ‘yellow vests’ onto the streets and poison the lives of the French people. They [les oppositions] are counting on the fact that Macron will not dare to resort to 49.3”, Write the Telegraph.
“Quickly adopt the pension reform which annoys, otherwise…” : The evening in Belgium also headlines on the detailed method on Thursday. “Don’t rush into it. But don’t procrastinate either. Emmanuel Macron has chosen to act and ‘at the same time’ to consult on the explosive issue of pensions”, summarizes the daily life.
“The context is flammable”, notice The evening about the mobilizations past but especially planned in October in France. “But the Élysée does not want to believe in the hypothesis of a hard social conflict, or even a return of the ‘yellow vests’.”
According The newspaper, in Spain, the timing might even be right. “The pandemic has been like a sleeping pill for a traditionally rebellious French society. Since then, unions and other collectives have been unable to mobilize the crowds in a country where many social movements followed one another between 2018 and 2020.
It is of this “demobilization” which the Head of State intends to take advantage of to have his reform project adopted.