Certainly, the option of new citizens' conventions would not be ruled out. But after those on the climate and the end of life, one more would in no case offer the hoped-for democratic boost, unlike the referendum which, beyond the fact that it would be a first for Emmanuel Macron – and this aspect should not be neglected – would above all allow him to regain a direct link with the voters.
“It’s a way for him to stay active. He will choose the subject(s) and organize the debates”
“It’s clever of him,” observes this former Macronist minister. He is not going to fall back on his Aventin, it is a way for him to stay on the move. He will choose the subject(s) and organize the debates. » However, the path to get there could be tortuous. Two reasons can motivate the holding of a referendum: to revise the Constitution or to adopt a law. Knowing that for a bill, the fields of application are limited. The question to be decided must relate either to “the organization of public authorities” or “to reforms relating to the economic, social or environmental policy of the nation”.
What about proportional
Tuesday evening, during his wishes, Emmanuel Macron cited among the possible subjects: “The economy, democracy and security. » Concerning democracy, a subject could arise: the implementation of proportional representation in legislative elections, one of François Bayrou's hobby horses. And an expectation shared by the rebels and the RN. Not incidentally, this would also allow the head of state to honor his broken promise of 2017.
-Still on this democracy chapter, a reform of the territorial mille-feuille appears as another possible subject with the arrival of the territorial advisor, this new elected official who would sit in the Region and the Department, as recommended in the Woerth report: “we need simplification, everyone can see that it doesn’t work,” observes this Renaissance MP.
On the left in any case, a subject has already emerged. “Let’s start with a referendum on pensions”, reacted on Tuesday evening, the ecologist Sandrine Rousseau. On the right and the RN, immigration could also resurface. Even so, the subject seems difficult, if not impossible, to bring into the referendum field. Unless the Constitution is amended…
The immigration question
Last April, the Constitutional Council rejected the articles introduced by the right into the immigration bill. In reaction, LR played another card: that of the shared initiative referendum, the RIP, to restore certain measures such as the conditionality of non-contributory social benefits and the transformation of state medical aid into emergency medical aid. . But here again, the Constitutional Council rejected this initiative. While they had gathered 190 signatures from parliamentarians out of the 185 necessary, their attempt stopped there, without being able to move on to the next, most difficult step: collecting the signatures of nearly 10% of the electorate, i.e. some five million people.
