The essential
- At the end of the suspense, the Council of Ministers authorized the government to use 49.3 to have the pension reform adopted, for lack of a majority in the Assembly. The Senate passed the bill this morning.
- The Prime Minister was greeted in chaos at the National Assembly, causing the session to be interrupted.
- The oppositions announce that they will file a motion of censure. For their part, the unions are calling for new mobilizations.
- Strikes continue in various sectors, including energy, and among garbage collectors, particularly in Paris, where they voted to continue their movement “at least until March 20”.
6:44 p.m. – Gatherings organized throughout France
In several cities, demonstrators gathered Thursday afternoon after the announcement of the government in the National Assembly. In Lyon, a demonstration gathered some 400 people around 5 p.m. in front of the prefecture, to cries of “Macron resign”. A few hundred demonstrators also gathered in Toulouse, Marseille and Grenoble.
In Bordeaux, around 300 people gathered from 5 p.m. at the call of the inter-union with the aim of going to the permanence of the Renaissance deputy Thomas Cazenave. Rallies were also announced in Tulle, in front of an LR office, as well as in front of the town halls of Bayonne and Hendaye and in several towns in Vienne, including Poitiers.
6:39 p.m. – A fire lit place de la Concorde
6:24 p.m. – Renaissance puts the blame on the Republicans
In a press release, the presidential party ensures that the use of 49.3 has been “made compulsory in the face of the inconsistency and irresponsibility of the LR deputies, who had nevertheless committed themselves to the French”.
5:47 p.m. – Thousands of demonstrators in Paris
A few thousand demonstrators gathered spontaneously at Place de la Concorde in Paris to protest against the pension reform and the triggering of article 49.3. Gatherings are taking place in other cities in France as well, such as in Grenoble, where 200 to 300 people had gathered since mid-afternoon in front of the prefecture.
5:37 p.m. – The deputies of the majority “stunned” by the decision of the government
Several majority deputies say they are “stunned” by the government’s recourse to 49.3 on pension reform, in particular to the MoDem, who “pleaded to the end” for a vote. Among the centrists, Erwan Balanant (MoDem) came out “in shock” from the hemicycle, he told AFP. In a press release, the entire group of 51 MoDem deputies thus underlined having pleaded “to the end in favor of a vote”.
Within the Horizons group, André Villiers, one of the most reluctant to reform, believes that “it’s a delayed mess” and that “in public opinion things will remain very crystallized”. At Renaissance too, some elected Macronists do not hide their incomprehension. At a Renaissance meeting shortly before the formalization of 49.3, the deputies were “stunned”, according to a participant. They anticipate “the possible sequence behind. »
For a leader of the majority group, on condition of anonymity, “it’s a crash. We need a breakup”.
5:20 p.m. – The LIOT group is preparing to table a motion of cross-partisan censure
The president of the LIOT group, Bertrand Pancher, demanded “the immediate withdrawal of the text and the resignation of the government”, otherwise his group will file a motion of cross-partisan censure.
4:46 p.m. – The Republicans will not vote any vote of no confidence
The president of the Republicans, Éric Ciotti, announced that his party will not table any motion of censure and will not vote for any either. “We will not join in any motion of censure, we will not vote in any motion of censure,” he said. This decision, taken after a meeting of the political group, is by a large majority within LR so as not to “add chaos”.
4:42 p.m. – Emmanuel Macron did not want to “play with the future of the country”
Emmanuel Macron said Thursday in the Council of Ministers that we could not “play with the future of the country”, justifying the use of 49.3 to have his highly contested pension reform adopted without a vote, reported a participant in the France Media Agency.
“There will be a vote on the text. It is provided for by our institutions. It is the motion of censure,” said the head of state. “We cannot play with the future of the country,” he insisted, according to this participant. As authorized by the Constitution, the oppositions have already announced motions of censure in an attempt to bring down the government and therefore derail the reform.
4:18 p.m. – The reform “has no parliamentary legitimacy”, tackle Mélenchon
The former leader of La France insoumise observes a “collapse of the presidential minority” after the outbreak of 49.3. “We are faced with a document which will not have been adopted in the forms of a parliamentary democracy. The text was adopted neither outward nor in return, by the National Assembly”, added Jean-Luc Mélenchon, denouncing “a text which has no parliamentary legitimacy”.
4:11 p.m. – How Emmanuel Macron justified the use of 49.3
Emmanuel Macron justified the use of 49.3 to pass the pension reform without a vote in the National Assembly by the “too great financial risks” that a rejection would have involved.
“My political interest and my political will was to go to the vote. Among you all, I am not the one who risks his place or his seat, ”he said during an extraordinary council of ministers, according to a participant. “But I consider that as it stands, the financial and economic risks are too great,” he added.
3:52 p.m. – Elisabeth Borne will speak on the 8 p.m. news
After having engaged the responsibility of the government on the pension reform, the Prime Minister is invited to the 8 p.m. news on TF1.
3:49 p.m. – Mobilizations will follow their course
The secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, announced “new mobilizations” after the announcement of 49.3 by Elisabeth Borne. “We will decide together in an inter-union”, which will be held Thursday evening at the headquarters of the CGT, he added.
3:41 p.m. – Demonstrators head for the National Assembly
More than 1,500 young people demonstrated Thursday in Paris against the pension reform, at the call of student organizations, with the aim of going to the National Assembly.
3:28 p.m. – A motion of censure to come
At the end of the session, the Communist deputy Fabien Roussel assured that “a motion of censure is ready”. For her part, Marine Le Pen, who observes “a statement of total failure for Emmanuel Macron”, also announced that she will table a motion of censure and says she is ready to vote for those of the other parties.
3:21 p.m. – Elisabeth Borne officially engages the responsibility of the government
Under the boos of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister officially engaged the responsibility of the government via article 49.3. “We cannot bet on the future of our pensions”, she justified.