The Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt denied on Friday that the recourse the day before to article 49.3 to pass the pension reform was “a failure”. “It would be a failure if there was no text, but there is a text”, “it is not a failure”, affirmed the minister on RMC / BFMTV. He added that he would have preferred there to be a vote, sought by the executive “until the last minute”.
“If the motion of censure is rejected, this text will be implemented”
“Indeed, there was no majority in the National Assembly because a certain number of members of the LR group did not respond and did not follow the position which had been adopted by their party. But it is not a failure, since there is a text and this text will be, if the motion of censure is rejected, implemented”, he continued.
Before deciding to use 49.3, “we realized that there were not enough guarantees for such an important text and that the risk zone was too large”. Asked about the fact that only three votes would have been missing for the adoption of the text, he replied: “when you make assessments, scores on 577 deputies, one shot is three, one shot is four”.
“I have never known a hemicycle where hatred takes so much precedence over reason”
The minister recognized “a moment of difficulty”, “a moment when political life is heckled because a 49.3 is heckle”. But “beyond 49.3, you have to bear in mind the way the debates went, with a lot of violence. I have never known a hemicycle where hatred takes so much precedence over reason”.
Asked whether he was still legitimate, Olivier Dussopt replied “of course”, adding that the Prime Minister “has the support of the majority and the confidence of the president”. As for the emotion of Elisabeth Borne mentioned by deputies after 49.3, he assured that “is very solid”, she “does not cry”.