France is experiencing a key political day this Monday with the vote on two motions of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, which would also throw the unpopular pension reform overboard if at least one is approved.
The National Assembly (Lower House) should debate starting this afternoon the proposals presented by the extreme right and by the independent group of deputies LIOT, with the support of the left, but it is difficult for them to prosper.
To be approved, either of the two motions must gather 287 votes – the absolute majority of the current chamber of 573 deputies (there are four vacant seats) -, so they would need the support of about 30 right-wing opposition legislators.
The president of the right-wing party Los Republicanos (LR), Éric Ciotti, reiterated that his party will not support the motions of no confidence, although some of its deputies will, including Aurélien Pradié, who said that “perhaps fifteen” of legislators of your block join the initiative.
“Yes, I will vote in favor of the motion of censure” of LIOT, “not that of the National Group (extreme right),” he announced in statements to Europe 1 Pradié radio, in which he called for an “electroshock” and a ” political alert” for the government, quoted the AFP news agency as saying.
To increase the pressure on these deputies, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen said that they will not present a rival against those who support the motions in the event of early elections.
Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron threatened to call them in case of a setback.
Against the rejection of the unions and two out of three Frenchmen, Macron imposed a delay in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years by 2030 and brought forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years (and not 42 as now) to collect a full board.
Without a clear majority in Parliament, the president chose on Thursday to resort to the controversial article 49.3 of the Constitution, a mechanism that allows him to approve the initiative by decree, regardless of the legislative vote, for fear of not gathering the necessary support in the chamber low, where it does not have an absolute majority.
The only way to prevent its application is for the deputies to approve a motion of censure against the government.
“I reiterate my call to the president: Withdraw this law, do not promulgate it. This would calm things down,” Laurent Berger, leader of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) union, told the newspaper Libération, for whom Macron will be “the responsible for what happens.”
The confirmation of the reform does not seem to calm the social tension for the moment. Since Thursday, protests have been registered in several cities, such as in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
The confirmation of the reform does not seem to calm the social tension for the moment. Since Thursday, protests have been registered in several cities, such as in the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
“Traditional union demonstrations have not worked (…) They have not listened to us”lamented Lionel Le Roy, a 49-year-old trade unionist, as some fifty people blocked the garbage incinerator in the city of Brest, in the Brittany region, in the northwest of the country.
Blocked routes, interrupted transport, the Tarbes-Lourdes airport (south) invaded, tons of garbage on the streets of Paris, lack of fuel in the southeast, were some of the episodes that multiplied as a form of protest.
“A republican monarch thinks that he can continue alone against an entire people (…) How far will he go?” asked the left-wing deputy Mathilde Panot, calling for “referendum or dissolution, because the people are always the solution.”
Pending the new day of massive protests called by the unions for next Thursday, the sectoral strikes slow down the activity of the second largest economy in the European Union (EU).
On Saturday, the Nice city offices of the leader of the French Republicans party were stoned in an apparent attempt to coerce conservative lawmakers into blocking pension reform.
This Monday, the protesters tried to block road access to the city of Rennes (west) and the authorities asked the airlines to cancel again 20% of their flights at the Parisian Orly airport on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The government also fears disturbances in high school exams to obtain the end of studies diploma in the event of possible blockades, as some student organizations have requested, or delays due to transport.
Beyond the reform, the President, who is not affected by the motion of no confidence, is risking being able to apply the program for his second term until 2027.
On Sunday, through his entourage, he assured that he wanted to go all the way with his pension project.
France has one of the lowest retirement ages in the EU and, in a context of greater life expectancy, the government defends that the reform will allow the achievement of “balance” in the pension fund by 2030.
But observers believe that if they win, the government will achieve a “Pyrrhic victory.”
The president will have to “change” or dissolve the Assembly, because “they can no longer govern”, estimated the deputy of LIOT, Charles de Courson.
The left opposition is also preparing an appeal before the Constitutional Council to delay its application and is also studying initiatives to promote a referendum.