The rebellious bill returning to the postponement of the retirement age to 64 was unable to go to the vote this Thursday, November 28. A political defeat that the Mélenchonist troops want to transform into a symbolic victory by calling public opinion to witness.
The left still fails to repeal the 2023 pension reform. Victim of a methodical parliamentary obstruction of the “common base”, the bill proposed by La France insoumise (LFI) which aimed to return the legal retirement age to 62 years (instead of 64 from now on) could not be voted on by the National Assembly before midnight this Thursday, November 28.
With the voices of the left and the National Rally, which had proposed its own text aimed at revisiting pension reform during its parliamentary niche, at the end of October, the text had every chance of being voted on. But the central bloc, which refuses to question its record despite the results of the European and legislative elections, had undertaken a blocking exercise, only too happy to remind the left, and a fortiori the rebels, that they themselves had played obstruction during pension reform almost two years ago. Some on the left have pointed out the difference between the opposition, which has little room for maneuver, and the majority, which sabotaged this niche day, precisely intended to allow an opposition group to set the order of the day in Parliament.
“We made five amendments on time this morning”
All day long, the deputies of the central bloc therefore used the parliamentary weapons for the use of the oppositions, multiplying the tabling of amendments, suspensions of sessions, and points of order to prevent the debates from moving forward. “We made five amendments on time this morning: assume that you are obstructing to prevent the vote”said Ugo Bernalicis, the rapporteur of the text. Throughout the debates, the elected representatives of the central bloc multiplied their blunders, as when a Macronist deputy saw fit to assert that “64 years old like at 60 years old, we are still in good shape”. And this, while the gap in life expectancy between executives and workers, especially in good health, is still glaring. According to INSEE, “workers are more than twice as likely as managers to die between the ages of 35 and 65, and 1.7 times more likely to die between the ages of 65 and 75.”
Despite the blockage, the rebels did not want to withdraw their text to move on to examining the following legislative proposals, on consent for example. On such a symbolic subject, they could not give up. Mélenchon's troops therefore took the opportunity to denounce a denial of democracy and call for the fall of the Barnier government, with the only outcome, according to them, being the resignation of Emmanuel Macron. “Against the sabotage of the Macronists”they called for a rally at Les Invalides, next to the National Assembly, at 7 p.m. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who was present at the Palais Bourbon during the day, spoke to denounce «l’obstruction» of the government, “for the first time in our history”.
La France insoumise had put this text in first position in its parliamentary niche. “It is a very, very powerful political signal, which shows that it is possible to undo the policies of Macron and his world of misfortune, the president of the rebellious group, Mathilde Panot, rejoiced in advance on Sunday. We cannot govern against the people, in particular by imposing a reform by force that no one wants.” The Mélenchonists thus take public opinion as witness.
Even after the setbacks of the European elections and the anticipated legislative elections, the macronie never wanted to consider touching the “mother of reforms”, yet widely contested in the Assembly and among the population. “I solemnly call on the Macronist deputies to withdraw their parliamentary obstruction amendments, had warned Manuel Bompard, the coordinator of LFI. I warn them: we will do poster work in their constituency to say which Macronist deputies are behind the initiative of preventing the National Assembly from voting on this subject.”
Beyond the rebellious niche, the entire left notes and denounces the blockage of the “common base”, which has made no concessions or compromises on this subject. “They never thought of going any distance with the leftdenounces Olivier Faure, the First Secretary of the PS. These are people sanctioned by the ballot box who act as if they had won. They don’t want to move on anything.” This Wednesday, while receiving the presidents of the socialist group in the Assembly and the Senate, Boris Vallaud and Patrick Kanner, Michel Barnier admitted that he would not take any steps towards them. “You said that your bills could be improved, so we worked,” the two men reminded him. Faced with them, this Prime Minister in the hot seat admitted: “I cannot take the risk of fracturing my common base with your proposals.”
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