LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul on Monday accused Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt of being an “impostor” and an “assassin”, immediately causing a suspension of the session in the Assembly during already heated debates on pension reform. Aurélien Saintoul criticized the minister for having “lied” about the number of deaths at work, also accusing him of “felony”. Cries resounded and Olivier Dussopt left the hemicycle during the suspension, noted AFP.
MP LFI apologizes to minister
The session resumed nearly 30 minutes later with applause for the Minister. Aurélien Saintoul then presented a “public apology” after “inappropriate words”. “I made a mistake”, due to “fatigue” and “emotion”, he pleaded. “I have always considered that violence, whether physical, verbal, symbolic, has no place in political life (…). I hear your apologies, they have the merit of being presented and they allow the debate to continue, but you will understand that being called a murderer cannot be forgiven”, reacted Olivier Dussopt.
The chairman of the session, the RN Sébastien Chenu, inflicted on Aurélien Saintoul a call to order with entry in the minutes, i.e. the withdrawal of a quarter of his parliamentary allowance for one month. A heavier sanction could be pronounced in office, the highest authority of the National Assembly.
General indignation in the hemicycle
The leaders of all the other camps condemned these remarks, which follow Friday’s exclusion from LFI Thomas Portes for 15 sitting days, after a controversial tweet where he appeared with his tricolor scarf with his foot on a ball at the effigy of Olivier Dussopt. On Twitter, the Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne stressed that “the National Assembly must be the place of debate, not that of insults. Those who insult are not up to the French people who elected them or the democratic debate they expect”.
The National Assembly must be the place of debate, not that of insults.
Those who insult are not up to the French who elected them or the democratic debate they expect.
All my support @olivierdussopt.
— Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) February 13, 2023
“I want to say how shocked we are by the comments that were made” by Aurélien Saintoul, said to applause the president of the communist group André Chassaigne saying he was “hurt”, “humiliated” by “such comments” . “It is unacceptable, unthinkable that we continue in this verbal escalation”, denounced the president of the deputies Renaissance Aurore Bergé. “It’s truly unbearable”, it’s “permanent excess”, also lamented the leader of the LR deputies Olivier Marleix. “This verbal escalation may have reached its peak today (Monday),” lamented the president of the RN Marine Le Pen group.
At the start of the session, Olivier Dussopt had declared that there were “650 deaths per year at work, a relatively stable figure. Each death is one death too many”. Aurélien Saintoul challenged him later accusing him of “lying”, mentioning increasing figures, with “150 widowers and orphans” in addition. In 2021, there were 645 deaths recognized in accidents at work, according to Health Insurance, 88 less than in 2019. More than half are malaise and 12% road deaths (excluding commuting accidents ).