The National Assembly voted, on the night of Wednesday 3 to Thursday 4 November, the bill of health vigilance, restoring in particular the possibility of resorting to the health pass until July 31, 2022, a date that the Senate had brought back to February 28.
The text was approved by 147 votes to 125 and two abstentions, at the end of a new reading, which restores the text, profoundly modified during the last week by the upper house, in the direction desired by the government.
After this meeting at the Palais-Bourbon, the senators must again work on the text later in the day Thursday. The National Assembly must have the last word on Friday during a final reading.
Marathon session
Some 500 amendments, largely coming from the benches of the Republicans (LR), but also from the left, hostile to the government bill, were examined during a marathon session, often stormy, started Wednesday at the beginning of the following day. midday, which ended around 3 a.m. on Thursday.
The main dispute concerned the possibility of using the health pass until July 31, a date that the Senate, dominated by the right, had reduced to February 28. The senators, like the oppositions of right and left at the Palais-Bourbon, denounce a “Blank check” given to the government over a period that “Spans” presidential and legislative elections. Power has “Fear of having a debate on this subject a few weeks before the presidential election”, launched the deputy LR Julien Dive. Socialist Lamia El Aaraje accused the majority of “Playing with democracy”.
The Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, assured that this date allowed to have “Readability and visibility” as to the progression of Covid-19, “Which continues to circulate”, and the means to fight against. The government also recalled that a parliamentary debate on the subject was scheduled for February 15, without succeeding in convincing the oppositions, who demand a proper examination of government policy, with a vote.
Other provisions rejected
Several parliamentarians tried in vain to obtain an immediate abrogation of the health pass, such as the elected France insubordinate Michel Larive, who described it as“Democratic and sanitary aberration”. The rapporteur Jean-Pierre Pont (La République en Marche), on the contrary, welcomed a device “Flexible and adaptable, which has proven itself”.
The deputies also reconsidered the decision of the senators to remove a controversial provision allowing school directors to know the vaccination status of students. They also rejected provisions introduced by senators aimed at “Territorialize” the use of the health pass according to the vaccination rate and the circulation of the virus according to the departments.
The Republicans and the left have already planned appeals to the Constitutional Council.