Eight deputies out of the twelve in Gironde voted this Wednesday, December 4, to censure the government. Only four of them did not press the Prime Minister's ejection seat button which will have marked the history of the Ve Republic by the brevity of its mandate.
Sophie Mette for the MoDem, Florent Boudié, Sophie Panonacle and Thomas Cazenave from the Renaissance group, did not cross the rubicond. Not that they are ardent supporters of Michel Barnier and his government. This Tuesday, December 3 again, the former Minister of the Budget slipped one last swipe into the columns of “Libération” to criticize the government's desire to toughen the conditions of compensation for sick leave for public employees. A genre scene which has been repeated over the last three months and which shows how the “central block” has never been one.
Need
Unsurprisingly, the left-wing deputies – there were seven of them elected under the New Popular Front label in the last legislative elections – voted for censure. In detail, this gives two Insoumises voices (Mathilde Feld and Loïc Prud'homme), four socialists (Pascale Got, Marie Récalde, Alain David and Sébastien Saint-Pasteur) and the ecologist Nicolas Thierry.
“Such a decision is never trivial, even less in a period of instability increased by the failed dissolution of the President of the Republic”
The Insoumis Mathilde Feld and Loïc Prud'homme believe: “Guarantee decent incomes, develop our public services, organize ecological bifurcation and take care of the most vulnerable… All this is possible, by abolishing the tax privileges enjoyed by a tiny minority of the population. population and multinationals. » In accordance with the LFI line, they urge the President of the Republic to choose: “Finally respect the result of the polls, which placed the New Popular Front in the lead, by appointing Lucie Castets to Matignon, or leave. »
Regrets
On the socialist side, Pascale Got, MP for Médoc, regrets “that we have reached the point of censorship but there is no other choice than to vote for it”. “Otherwise, it’s endorsing Mr. Barnier’s budgets with the elimination of 4,000 teachers, the drop in revenue for communities, the consequences for their residents and their associations. It means accepting the continuation of retirement at 64 […] The new head of government must act in dialogue and appeasement with progressive parties and social partners. »
-Alain David, PS deputy from the right bank, considers that “Michel Barnier, upon taking office, dismissed our proposals aimed at protecting the working classes and involving the wealthiest and the world of finance”. And added: “Censoring this budget is not only our responsibility, but also a necessity to ask the Head of State to review his copy. »
All denounce the concessions made to the RN. For Sébastien Saint-Pasteur, since “at no time did the government listen to our proposals, after the discovery of 50 billion in additional debt and faced with the indignity of dialogue with the National Rally, the choice of censorship was imposes”.
Derivative
For his part, the ecologist Nicolas Thierry recognizes that “such a decision is never trivial, even less so in a period of instability increased by the failed dissolution of the President of the Republic. But this censorship is also a categorical refusal to support a Prime Minister ready to court the far right. His unacceptable concessions to Marine Le Pen, particularly on state medical aid, betray Republican values. How can we tolerate such decisions when a majority of French people stood up to block the far right just a few months ago? This vote is an act of responsibility in the face of a political and moral drift that I refuse to see triumph.”
Alliance ?
Edwige Diaz, the only National Rally deputy in Gironde, also voted for censure. “Faced with a punitive, recessive, dangerous and unjust budget, I voted to censure Michel Barnier's government. This vote is in no way an alliance with LFI, contrary to the shameless lies of the central bloc which is trying to cling to its positions by deceiving public opinion with rare determination,” assures the elected official.
“Faced with a budget which provided for more than 30 billion euros in additional taxes, while being incapable of reducing the deficit, faced with a government which aroused prodigiously widespread discontent among the population, it was my responsibility to to respect the voters of the National Rally and to serve the national interest by avoiding the worst. »
