Pensions: mobilization must not “block” the country, says Olivier Véran

The government hopes that the union and political mobilization, scheduled for Thursday against the pension reform, will not turn into a “blockage” of the country or that there will be no “breakage”. “It is a movement which corresponds to a democratic expression, which we respect of course. We hope that this popular expression will not turn into a blockage”, declared this Wednesday Olivier Véran, the spokesman of the government, on behalf of- report of the Council of Ministers. “Block the country and block the daily life of the French, no”.

“Unacceptable”

The representative of the government considered “unacceptable” the threats of the CGT to cut off the electricity of elected officials supporting the reform: “Anything that will come under pressure, threats, insults (…) even targeted actions aimed at to the integrity of the functioning of a parliamentary mandate are unacceptable in a democracy”. “We don’t care what will happen tomorrow (Thursday, editor’s note). We respect (…) this social mobilization”, “it does not surprise us” because pension reforms are “always reforms which are difficult,” he added.

But “we do not confuse demonstration and the right to strike with blocking. What we do not want is that French people who have not asked anyone to find themselves unable to go to work, to bring their children to school, (…) to move around”. “We don’t want there to be movements (…) with breakage,” he added.

“Monitoring and protecting the offices of parliamentarians”

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin spoke on RTL of the arrival in Paris on Thursday of a “few thousand people who could be violent”, citing “ultraleft” or “ultrajaunes” (radicalized “yellow vests”) , Editor’s note). He also indicated that “the instruction will be given to the police forces to monitor and protect the offices of parliamentarians” and that “any attack on the elected representatives of the Republic to put pressure on them, unacceptable blackmail, (…) will be brought to justice.”

The secretary general of the CGT Mines-Energie, Sébastien Menesplier, drew the wrath of the majority by evoking Monday targeted cuts aimed at the offices of elected officials who support the reform. The patron saint of Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé repeated on Wednesday that these cuts would be “unacceptable”, as well as “any attempt at intimidation, threat, violence” towards elected officials. “The objective is to create a climate so that in the end the deputies are no longer free in their mandate and are afraid” to vote for the reform, but “it will not work”, she affirmed before the Association of Parliamentary Journalists, recalling the series of acts of violence against parliamentarians already under the previous five-year term.

Asked on France 2 about this type of cut-off action, the general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, suggested to the electricians fighting against the reform to cut the electricity of the “beautiful properties” of the “billionaires”, to whom ” no effort” is required.