The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen continues to pressure the Executive, whose survival depends on its 140 deputies, but keeps open the door to negotiation on the General Budgets for 2025, which may mark the breaking point in the week that begins this Monday.
The Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, must present the Social Security accounts this Monday, the first major examination he faces without a majority in the National Assembly.
Given this, it can decide to approve them without a parliamentary vote using a constitutional mechanism, article 49.3, but that enables the opposition to present a motion of censure.
In an interview published this Sunday by the weekly The TribuneLe Pen reiterates that censure of the Executive “is not inevitable”, but it requires “a negotiation” with her party, something that, according to her, has not occurred until now.
The far-right leader, who has presented a budget parallel to that of the Executive, was received at the Government headquarters last Monday by Barnier, who also spoke with other parliamentary leaders.
Since then, the head of the Government has given some concessions to the extreme right, such as renouncing a tax on electricity, which has been converted by its spokespersons as a victory in defense of the purchasing power of the popular classes.
But for Le Pen it is not enough and now she assures that she will not settle for crumbs and wants to start a real negotiation on the Budgets, which must be put to a vote just before Christmas.
That presupposes that will not overthrow the Executive over Social Security accountswhich gives Barnier some oxygen, although it predicts a new moment of tension in less than a month.
The head of the Government continues to warn of the dangers that the country faces if the Budget is not approved, which would weaken its ability to request loans internationally.
“High bill”
The Minister of Finance, Laurent Saint-Martin, warns this Sunday in an interview on Le Parisian of the “high bill” that the country will pay if it does not approve new budgets.
According to their figures, France would suffer a “financial penalty” of 3.5 billion euros immediately and 20 billion over five years, due to the rise in interest rates on the loans that the country needs.
Furthermore, he considers that redirecting the 2024 budgets would be very negative for the middle and lower classes, because many citizens who are now exempt from income tax should pay it.
Saint-Martin rejects “the blackmail” and “ultimatum” of the extreme right and appeals to the responsibility of all groups so as not to weaken the image of France.
In particular, the head of the Treasury addresses the Socialist Party, which he describes as a “government party that wants chaos for the country.”
The socialists, whose 60 deputies are grouped in an alliance with the rest of the left-wing parties, have not given any sign of wanting to break that pact and accuse the Government of negotiating only with the extreme right.
That is the feeling given by the Executive, which continues trying to convince Le Pen’s troops, which considers that it needs more gestures for its “eleven million voters”, which make it the most voted party in the country.
Specifically, the extreme right uses four negotiating points: freezing the pension increase for half a year, stopping subsidizing some medications, increasing taxation of small and medium-sized businesses and reducing medical aid to clandestine immigrants.
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