Pension reform: Emmanuel Macron “wants” a vote in the National Assembly, not 49.3
Whether deputies and senators have agreed, Wednesday, on a compromise text to reform pensions, the new passage to the National Assembly will be more a moment of truth for Emmanuel Macron’s project. The president “wishes to go to the vote”, declared the Elysée, Wednesday evening after a meeting of the head of state with Elisabeth Borne and ministers, excluding for the time being going through 49.3 although the government is anything but certain of having a majority.
“We must mobilize all parliamentarians in a spirit of responsibility”, “consultations will continue tomorrow to continue the mobilization”, it was said in the president’s entourage on the eve of this decisive vote and still uncertain as to the existence of a majority in favor of the reform.
49.3, a risky political gesture
The passage through a 49.3 would be synonymous with a forced passage. If the government has already used it ten times since the beginning of the mandate, brandishing it for this symbolic project could have serious consequences. To have recourse to it would be perceived as a very risky political gesture, likely to harden the protest movement, have also warned several union leaders. Its use also exposes the executive to a motion of censure and therefore to a fall of the government.
On the social front, for the eighth day of mobilization, the CGT counted 1.7 million demonstrators in France and the Ministry of the Interior 480,000, more than last Saturday, but much less than March 7. In Paris, the union counted 450,000 demonstrators and the police 37,000. Following these demonstrations, the intersyndicale called “solemnly” on the parliamentarians to vote against the reform.
