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Macron imposes the pension reform by decree

2020-02-29T23:03:09.360Z


The decision provokes strong criticism from the opposition, which had filed 40,000 amendments to slow down a reform that brought hundreds of thousands of French to the streets


“In accordance with article 49 paragraph 3 of the 1958 Constitution and after having obtained the authorization of the Council of Ministers on February 29, I have decided to enforce the responsibility of the Government on the bill that establishes a universal pension system,” Philippe said in a short speech in the National Assembly interrupted, despite the semi-empty hemicycle, by the shouts and protests of the opposition deputies. The measure "is not intended to end the debates, but to this episode of no debate in a parliament that has been deprived of its eminent function of making laws," he added in reference to the 40,000 amendments filed against the pension law with which the opposition tried to block the approval of the regulations. This "strategy of deliberate obstruction by a minority" has meant that "there could never be a discussion on the merits" of the norm, the prime minister lamented.

The possibility of the Government resorting to the decree line, known in France as "the 49.3", had been around for days. But doing it on Saturday, when a good part of the deputies was absent, has been described by many as a low blow. Officially, the extraordinary Council of Ministers held this Saturday on the Elysium had been convened to discuss measures before the expansion of the coronavirus, although, as Philippe revealed, it was used to give free way to the pension decree.

MORE INFORMATION

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From left to right it was agreed to censor a maneuver that the leader of the National Right-wing ultra-right party Marine Le Pen described as "unworthy" and her pair of leftist France Insumisa, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, "unfair". “It is not very elegant. We are on Saturday and we only have 24 hours to file the motion of censure. Everything has been done to try to prevent us from preparing it, ”denounced Mélenchon.

In spite of this, both Mélenchon and the representatives of the conservative party Los Republicanos (LR) assured that they would work intensely - although separately -, in order to gather the 58 signatures of deputies required by law to be able to file a motion of censure in the 24 hours after the announcement of the application of article 49.3. Two hours after Philippe's speech, the president of the conservative parliamentary group, Damien Abad, said they would deposit the first motion this Saturday.

Once filed, a 48-hour period of debate of the motion is opened. But the success of this is more than improbable, in view of the comfortable majority that the executive of Emmanuel Macron has in the National Assembly.

That is why it is still risky for Macron to resort to the unpopular 49.3, especially just two weeks after the municipal elections, considered a key thermometer before the presidential elections of 2022. It also makes it a particularly sensitive issue for the French, such as their pensions, By whose reform the Government of Macron has faced the greatest protests of its mandate, with mobilization days that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets and an unprecedented strike of urban trains and public transport that lasted more than 40 days.

The curse of 49.3

Although it has a long tradition, the use of article 49.3 of the Constitution is considered in France as a last resort and is popularly rejected because of the image of taxation that it entails. Especially since, in the previous socialist executive, it was used by the then Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, to impose two unpopular laws, labor reform and the Macron law - then Minister of Economy - of economic liberalization, which had provoked strong manifestations , as now the pension reform. The decree, which he used twice more, marked a before and after in his term (2014-2016) and is the measure by which he is most remembered until today.

The 49.3 is a political maneuver that "marks hot iron" to those who use it, confirmed the newspaper Le Monde after the announcement of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe that he will apply it for the approval of the controversial pension reform.

In total, since 1958, 49.3 has been used 86 times. The most used of this article was Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1988-1991), who used it 28 times.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-02-29

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