Two days before the examination of the repeal of retirement at 64, proposed in the parliamentary niche of La France insoumise, the government coalition tabled a very large majority of the amendments. A way of not going as far as a vote, while the government has proposed “discussions” to the social partners on the subject.
Quick to denounce the obstruction of the oppositions when they were in an absolute majority, the Macronists nevertheless do not hesitate to use the same delaying tactic since there are no longer so many of them in the Assembly. And whether on the budget or on the rebellious bill aimed at repealing Macron's pension reform at age 64. Thus on Monday November 25 at midnight, 972 amendments were tabled for the examination of the LFI text on Thursday, during the Melenchonist parliamentary niche at the Palais Bourbon. And almost all of these amendments come from “common base”or 960 of them. In detail, it is the EPR group which wins with 348 proposed modifications, followed by the Republican Right (258), Modem (193) and Horizons (161). In comparison, the New Popular Front looks like a fool with its seven amendments. The far right is weakly represented by Eric Ciotti's three, while the National Rally is absent.
This total could allow the government coalition to drag out the debates to delay or even prevent a vote on the bill. And thus please François Bayrou who refused this weekend to allow the deputies to vote on this text. Eric Coquerel thus denounced, on LCP, a “obstruction work” et “the scandalous side that such a tactic would have”. The head of the LFI deputies, Mathilde Panot, transmitted the message to Barnier at the end of the day Monday, explaining at the end of her meeting in Matignon that he would be “intolerable” et “irresponsible” of “do not let go to the vote” on this subject. Vote that the Macronists should lose, as was the case in the Social Affairs Committee.
The “trollesque” amendment titles of Ludovic Mendes
But since Tuesday morning, the number of amendments to the “common base” has been dwindling little by little, 28 having been deemed inadmissible by the presidency of the National Assembly at 2 p.m. Great champion of this game with 83 modifications submitted to this text, MoDem Nicolas Turquois has already seen 19 of them refused. This descent is accentuated by one of the Macronist deputies, Ludovic Mendes. Author of 28 amendments, he finally withdrew 18. Two of them proposed, for example, replacing the initial title with “Retirement at 64: Because ignoring reality and giving in to populist pressure, that’s being responsible” or “Reform pensions? Why bother when you can repeal and win votes in the blink of an eye!”. The deputy for Moselle still retained one of his titles: his amendment 934 proposes to modify the title by “Repeal the pension reform: A true masterpiece of demagoguery, where we claim to save the future by ignoring the present.” «The titles that I have submitted are linked to what I think of the text, linked to the lies they tell about this textdefends Ludovic Mendes to Liberationrejecting accusations of obstruction. You will see that the debates will be much more technical and comprehensive than what is being explained to us.”
The left had already accused the Macronie and the Republicans of using this strategy of obstruction during the examination of the finance bill in the National Assembly at the end of October. The Republican Right had tabled 754 amendments and Ensemble 541, while LFI had only 357. “They want to spoil the debates”, the president of the finance committee, Eric Coquerel, then judged on BFMTV on Thursday October 24. The roles were reversed during the examination of the pension reform in February 2023. With 20,000 amendments, including 18,000 tabled by Nupes, article 7 of the bill, which postponed retirement to 64 years, did not could not be studied in time.
Failing to vote to repeal retirement at 64 this Thursday, the government said it was ready to “to arrange” the Macron reform. In a letter sent to unions this Monday, November 25, Minister of Labor and Employment Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet proposed opening «discussions»In “the next few weeks”. On his arrival in Matignon on September 5, Michel Barnier affirmed his intention to “resume the dialogue” on the postponement of retirement from 62 to 64 years old.
France
