François Bayrou promised on Wednesday to submit to Parliament an agreement, even partial, from the social partners on pensions, without satisfying the socialists who hesitate to censor it.
The First Secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure asked, in order not to vote on the motion of censure which will be examined on Thursday, that Parliament be seized, whatever the conclusions of the “conclave” of unions and employers scheduled for three months.
The Prime Minister responded in part to this request. He mentioned three scenarios which could occur at the end of this “social conference” intended to revisit the contested reform of Elisabeth Borne.
“Disagreement: we remain with the current text. Complete agreement: we create a legal text. Partial agreement: we translate the partial agreement into a text to improve our retirement system. This is the most straightforward route, the most transparent, the most honest that we could find on these subjects”, detailed François Bayrou in his general policy declaration to the Senate.
But he was met with rejection. “The account is not there,” replied Patrick Kanner, leader of the PS senators. “Your speech does not allow us to have a clear vision of the general balance of your budget,” he added, saying he was “worried” to “discover the subjects on which you will make new savings”.
And even “in the event that the conditions are met for us not to censor your government, we will not sign you a blank check,” he warned.
The Prime Minister had already dampened the hopes of the PS by announcing this negotiation to the National Assembly, but without suspending the reform in force.
– “Trust” –
The 66 elected PS must meet on Wednesday to decide on their position on the motion of censure tabled by their left-wing allies, LFI in the lead, which the Communists and Environmentalists have joined.
Like François Bayrou the day before, government spokesperson Sophie Primas also argued that out of “around ten subjects” raised by the PS, “there are at least eight subjects on which it will have an answer that will suit it” .
The Prime Minister also reiterated his “confidence in the fact that all social partners have the wish, the desire, the will for progress to be found”.
Discussions still need to start. After contradictory signals, the first meeting of the promised “conclave” in the presence of the Prime Minister should take place on Friday at 11:00 a.m.
The head of government marked out the path in his general policy declaration: first a “flash mission” from the Court of Auditors to work on “indisputable figures”, then a quarter of negotiation “without any totem (nor) taboo “even over 64 years, provided that it does not “degrade the financial balance” of the pension system.
A “total humiliation” for the socialists, who “have obtained nothing, not even crumbs”, castigated the environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau, determined to censor a Prime Minister whom she considers “unworthy of his function”.
– “Quacks” –
“What François Bayrou is proposing is a comedy” and “there is a possibility that he will leave very quickly,” added the head of the LFI deputies Mathilde Panot, calling on the PS to “come back to reason” because “those who will against the program” of the New Popular Front “de facto exclude themselves” from the left alliance.
The executive's supporters do not shine with their cohesion either. The strong man of the Republicans, Laurent Wauquiez, estimated on CNews and Europe 1 that Mr. Bayrou's project “remains very vague”, despite “good intentions”.
Inaccuracies, however, excused by the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who affirmed on RTL that “making a catalog of precise measures would be doomed to failure”, while saying she was “extremely disappointed” by the lack of commitment on the resumption of the end-of-life bill.
Even at MoDem, Mr. Bayrou's party, the head of deputies Marc Fesneau admitted on France Inter that the Prime Minister's speech “can give the feeling (of being) too much in generalities”. But, “the important thing is to try to find a method”.
All under the supervision of Emmanuel Macron, who received the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher on Wednesday morning, after Ms. Braun-Pivet the day before.
And if possible by avoiding hiccups, like the Minister of Regional Planning François Rebsamen assuming Tuesday evening to “respect all political forces except the RN”. An “insult” immediately noted by the president of the far-right party Jordan Bardella, who still holds the key to potential censorship.
The minister's statement “is not the government's position”, said Sophie Primas.
