There were more than 20,000 amendments to the text proposed by the government, most of them from La Francia Insumisa
The pension reform goes to the French Senate after a debate without a vote in the National Assembly due to lack of time, due to the thousands of amendments presented by the leftist party La Francia Insumisa.
French deputies had until midnight on Friday to debate at first reading and vote on the pension reform. But after 20 days of heated debates, they were unable to examine the controversial article 7. This article, at the heart of the reform, progressively raises the minimum retirement age in France from 62 to the current 64 years from 2030, as it claims government.
There were more than 20,000 amendments to the text, most of them from La Francia Insumisa. Although Nupes, the alliance of left-wing parties to which La Francia Insumisa belongs, withdrew thousands of amendments this week, there was no time to examine the entire text or vote on it.
France Insoumise adopted the strategy of parliamentary obstruction to prevent the vote on the text in the National Assembly, which was highly criticized by the government.
The debates ended as they began: with anger and a tense atmosphere in the chamber. “Gentlemen and ladies of La France Unsubmissive, you have insulted me for 15 days, but nobody has given in and here we are before you for the reform,” said a hoarse Olivier Dussopt, French Minister of Labor, after the intense debates in the National Assembly, while the deputies of La Francia Insumisa left the chamber in protest.
The senators, who will begin examining the text on February 28, will have 15 days to debate the controversial pension reform. The legislative term ends on March 12 at midnight. If the two chambers fail to agree on the text, the pension reform will be examined in the mixed parliamentary commission from March 14.
After midnight, the National Assembly rejected, as expected, the motion of no confidence presented by National Regroupment, the far-right party of Marine Le Pen. Only the 89 far-right deputies voted in favor of government censorship. The rest of the parliamentary groups had already announced that they would not vote on a text from the extreme right. At least 287 votes were needed for it to prosper and bring down the government.
war of reproaches
Renacimiento, the party of President Emmanuel Macron, considered that after the rejection of the motion of censure of National Regrouping it is clear that “there is no majority (of deputies) in the National Assembly against the pension reform.”
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne harshly criticized “the two populisms” of La France Unsubmissive and National Regrouping, which she considered “two faces of contempt for democracy.”
The head of government criticized the absence of the National Regrouping deputies in the debates on the reform and their strategy of presenting a motion of no confidence against the government by surprise at the last minute, despite the fact that they knew it would not prosper.
Borne also regretted that, with its thousands of amendments, La Francia Insumisa has prevented the text from being voted on in the National Assembly. He accused them of “wanting chaos in the chamber,” of “not believing in democracy” and of turning it “into a circus.” The Prime Minister also blamed them for having resorted to insults instead of constructively discussing the reform with arguments.
The Prime Minister was convinced that the debates on the pension reform in the coming weeks will make it possible to “enrich” the text to “guarantee the future of our pay-as-you-go pension system.”
Likewise, the French unions threaten to paralyze France on March 7, if the government does not withdraw the controversial pension reform. 67 percent of French people oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s reform, according to a recent poll.
#pension #reform #French #Senate #debate #vote #National #Assembly