Alexis Delafontaine
The National Assembly rejected this Tuesday evening article 2 of the text of the pension reform on the creation of a “senior index” in large companies. But, three days from the end of the examination of the text, the left-wing parties do not agree on the strategy to be applied to speed up the process and reach article 7, which postpones the age of departure retired.
It’s a slap in the face for the government, but a victory for the opposition. The deputies voted this Tuesday evening against article 2 of the text of the pension reform, which provided for the creation of a senior index. But this victory, for the Left Alliance Nupes, the National Rally and the Republicans, could end up being a failure.
More than 14,000 amendments still remain to be examined before the text leaves for the Senate on Friday. The elected members of the National Assembly have no guarantee of reaching article seven, which provides for the postponement of the starting age to 64 years. So, within the Left Alliance, two different strategies are beginning to clash. On the one hand, environmentalists, socialists and communists “hope to destabilize the government”, according to an environmentalist, by refocusing the debate on retirement at 64, the most divisive point of the reform.
“We are not going to be intimidated”
The latter could also withdraw their amendments, putting an end to the blocking of the Assembly and making it possible to forget in passing the slippages of their rebellious colleagues. A first gesture was made this week, since 1,000 amendments were withdrawn. But this strategy comes up against the radicalism of those close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “We are not going to be intimidated by the macronists”, proclaims a rebellious deputy.
Because on the side of La France insoumise, the vote on article 7 is particularly feared. And for good reason: since last week, the divisions have been erased in the majority and the Republicans have returned to the ranks about the postponement of the legal age of departure. “Today, we would lose this vote”, recognizes a socialist deputy. The rebellious France therefore refuses to make this gift to the presidential majority.