AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
A heated altercation broke out Thursday evening in the National Assembly, briefly interrupting debates on the proposed law to repeal the pension reform carried by La France insoumise (LFI). Nicolas Turquois, MoDem deputy, virulently attacked Mickaël Bouloux, elected socialist, during an already electric moment in the Hemicycle.
In a press release, the socialist group quickly condemned this incident, describing the attitude of Nicolas Turquois as “unworthy of a parliamentarian”. The events took place around 10:30 p.m., when the session had just been suspended. Nicolas Turquois left his seat to confront Mickaël Bouloux, loudly reproaching him for threats allegedly made against his family by residents of the latter's constituency. Visibly beside himself, he shouted a few centimeters from his colleague's face. “My family was threatened! And these are people from your village! », he would have launched vehemently.
Mickaël Bouloux, initially motionless and seated, ended up pushing away the arm of Nicolas Turquois, who had approached dangerously.
LFI deputies, such as Antoine Léaument and Thomas Portes, tried to intervene, calling on the MoDem deputy to leave the scene. It took the intervention of the president of the MoDem group, Marc Fesneau, to escort his colleague out of the Hemicycle.
After an interruption of around fifteen minutes, the debates resumed, but the tension remained palpable. The socialist Arthur Delaporte demanded immediate sanctions, calling for a referral to the office of the National Assembly. Marc Fesneau, for his part, apologized on behalf of his group. “The MP in question will explain it when the time comes. There was no physical violence, even if the situation was regrettable,” he said, facing a barrage of criticism from the rebellious benches.
Antoine Léaument, speaking, denounced “repeated threats” from Nicolas Turquois. According to him, without the intervention of the colleagues present, a physical confrontation would have been inevitable.
– LFI parliamentary niche
French MPs did not see a vote on the proposal to repeal the pension reform at age 64, defended by La France Insoumise (LFI) as part of its parliamentary niche. The thousand amendments tabled by the deputies of the government majority were perceived by LFI as an attempt at parliamentary obstruction. Mathilde Panot denounced this strategy, accusing the government of organizing a blockade of the debate: “Not allowing a vote on such a crucial subject would be unbearable.”
The 2023 pension reform, at the heart of these tensions, was imposed by the executive of Élisabeth Borne via article 49.3, due to lack of a majority in the National Assembly. The reform project and the forceful passage had sparked months of massive demonstrations across France, mobilizing unions and citizens against the increase in the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
Described as “unfair and brutal” by its opponents, the reform had also crystallized criticism of the repeated use of mechanisms perceived as undemocratic.
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