They wanted it, they got it. In the executive, there was little emotion on Sunday outraged reactions of the opposition to the use of article 49-3 by the Prime Minister to pass the pension reform. On the right as on the left, no one had spared no words to denounce the surprise announcement of Edouard Philippe on Saturday night in the hemicycle. "Government coup " for the Communist Fabien Roussel, " totalitarian impulses " by Emmanuel Macron for the leader of the Insubmissives Jean-Luc Mélenchon, " worst solutions ", for the ecologist Yannick Jadot, " most total cynicism " for the boss of deputies LR Damien Abad…
Read also: Pension reform: why the executive chose a forceful passage
So many comments that leave Matignon marble. " It looks like an Italian soccer player who simulates a foul in the area to get a penalty, " said a close to Edouard Philippe. We are not going to fall into the big trap like a house that La France rebellious holds out to us. The National Assembly is not a ZAD ”. But outside, it looks like it.
Support from Manuel Valls
Only a few tens of minutes after the Prime Minister's announcement, a spontaneous gathering of demonstrators was organized via social networks outside the building to protest against the use of article 49-3. Later in the night, the campaign permanence of Edouard Philippe, head of the list for the municipal elections in Le Havre, was tagged and stoned. In the aftermath, the Prime Minister received a friendly message of support from Manuel Valls, the last Prime Minister to have used 49-3 to pass the Macron laws in 2015 and El Khomri in 2016.
Within the executive, the decision to resort to article 49-3 was taken since last week. Tuesday, Edouard Philippe had indicated to the National Assembly that he did not refrain from using it. But it was Saturday morning during a Council of Ministers convened on the coronavirus that it was formally recorded.
Read also: Pensions: "disappointed" by 49-3, a senator leaves LREM
Emmanuel Macron was very firm with his ministers so that nothing leaked before Edouard Philippe went up to the gallery of the National Assembly. The head of state wants to preserve the element of surprise. " It's the principle of 49-3, " slips an advisor. Finally, the use of this criticized article was announced at 5.30 p.m. by the Prime Minister in the Chamber. Neither Jean-Luc Mélenchon nor Marine Le Pen were present. " This has saved us a scandal, " we breathe within the executive.
But the element of surprise does not prevent the opposition from tabling two motions of censorship on Saturday evening, the first by LR, the second by the PS, the PCF and La France insoumise. On the right as on the left, we still have reflexes. They should be discussed next Tuesday but have no chance of succeeding since LREM alone has a very large majority in the National Assembly and can count on the support of the Modem.
The church must be put back in the middle of the village. Constitution Authorizes Obstruction, Also Authorizes Government To End Obstruction
An advisor to Edouard PhilippeIn the wake of the announcement of the use of 49-3, and once past the stupor, the majority is ordered to unite behind the executive. It is an understatement to say that the announcement of the use of 49-3, " learned by the press ", annoyed more than one among LREM deputies. " We can all deplore the fact that a crucial debate for the future of the French has been prevented by the systematic obstruction of the LFI and GDR groups ," wrote LREM deputy boss Gilles Le Gendre to his troops on Saturday evening. In this circumstance, the use of 49-3 is not intended to constrain the majority, it simply allows our institutions to function normally ”.
Read also: "49-3: pitiful but necessary weapon in the face of an obstruction that sabotages democracy"
It is a release 49-3 that the president wants to activate. “ Emmanuel Macron identified three types of 49-3. The one who is used to govern quickly right after an election. This is the case of Michel Rocard. The one that is used to constrain a narrow majority. This is the case of Manuel Valls. And finally the one who is used against the opposition in the face of a deadlock. This is the case of Edouard Balladur, Alain Juppé, Jean-Pierre Raffarin and now Édouard Philippe ”, explains a close friend of the Head of State. No mood therefore.
Even if Emmanuel Macron had little taste in his time the use of 49-3 by Prime Minister Manuel Valls to pass his law on growth and activity. “ We have to put the church back in the middle of the village. The Constitution authorizes obstruction, it also authorizes the government to put an end to it, ”sweeps an adviser to Edouard Philippe.
New mobilizations
The line of the executive is clear: by using article 49-3, the Prime Minister wanted to put an end to " this episode of non-debate ". Since the start of the examination of the pension reform in the National Assembly, La France insoumise and the Communists have multiplied the amendments, sometimes absurd. " I do not have the feeling that what we are witnessing is what the French - favorable or not to the bill - expect from their representatives nor that our democracy can afford the luxury of such a spectacle ", s' Édouard Philippe is annoyed on Saturday evening at 8 p.m. on TF1.
Read also: Pensions: what will happen after the announcement of 49-3?
The opposition's obstruction strategy had made Emmanuel Macron's objective of getting the text adopted at first reading unattainable before the municipal elections in March and definitively in the summer. The timetable is tight since the President of the Republic wants the reform to come into effect in 2021, which presupposes that certain measures are put in place in the budget which will be examined in the fall.
The sequence of pension reform is not over yet. On the street side, the unions are already considering new mobilizations in the face of recourse to 49-3 deemed " deeply scandalous " by the CGT and " unacceptable " by FO. On the Senate side where the right is the majority, the executive is preparing for another parliamentary battle. " They will not make such a gross obstruction but they will be intractable on the merits, " worries an adviser. Édouard Philippe recognized it, this 49-3, " it's not an end, it's a step ".
