Former President François Hollande lamented on Sunday the “tremendous mess” of the debate on pension reform in the National Assembly, calling on the government to dialogue with the unions rather than with the boss of LR Éric Ciotti. “It’s a tremendous waste since none of the actors emerge victorious, neither the government, nor the opposition and especially not the French”, regretted François Hollande, guest of the Grand Jury LCI-RTL-Le Figarowhich sees the reform as “untimely” and “unfair”.
“Each of the actors was against the grain”
“We experienced about fifteen dupes since each of the actors was against the grain”, estimated the former PS president, who criticized all the political forces, first attacking the government which “has taken an exceptional procedure to pass a reform (…)” and “opened the criticism of the short time and the passage in force”. On the left, François Hollande tackled the Insoumis deputies who “did not even hear what the trade unions were asking for”. The inter-union demanded the withdrawal of the amendments so that article 7, which provides for the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64, be debated.
On the right, he joked about “the absurd” and “contradictory” position of LR deputies who “appeared to be those who were asking for flexibility”. Finally, his pikes did not spare the RN, accused of “having hidden himself throughout the discussion” to file at the end a motion of censure “which they knew could not pass”.
“Hollande pleads for a dialogue between government and unions
Before the next day of mobilization scheduled for March 7, François Hollande pleaded for a “dialogue” between the government and the unions, in particular Laurent Berger, the boss of the CFDT. “Rather than negotiating with Eric Ciotti or Aurélien Pradié, it is essentially vis-à-vis Laurent Berger and other unions that we had to turn,” he said.
“To think that it is Mr. Ciotti who today represents the social movement, it is all the same a little strange,” he added.