Macron remains firm and will not dissolve the Assembly or change the Government

The question on the minds of all French people this Tuesday was what will be the reaction of President Emmanuel Macron after the National Assembly on Monday rejected two motions of no confidence that called for the fall of the Government after the pension reform was approved by decree. It seems that neither the decisive rejection of the French, nor the protests, nor the blockades of refineries and oil fields have affected the head of state, despite the fact that he emerges from this political series weakened, since the movements did not progress, but the votes they lacked, nine, are much less than they expected. And the absence of numerous representatives of the majority, who preferred to leave Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne alone, was also conspicuous. As the general secretary of Renaissance (Macron’s party), Stéphane Séjourné, said on BFMTV, “if we don’t learn from this, we will go from a government with a relative majority to a minority government.”

Macron devoted this Tuesday to numerous consultations. In the morning he met with Borneo and some members of the executive branch, then had lunch with the presidents of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and the Senate, Gérard Larcher, and ended the afternoon by welcoming his party’s representatives to the Elysées.

Finally, the president decided to address the French on television today at 1:00 p.m., the day before the mobilization and strikes called by the unions. But apparently Macron has ruled out dissolving the National Assembly, reshaping the government or calling a referendum on reform. Therefore, many wondered about the meaning of this apparition. One of the participants in these meetings with the President of the Republic told France Presse that the head of state asked them to make proposals within two to three weeks at the most in order to “change the method and reform agenda”.

the next reform

They could also run out of support for the implementation of the next reform they are preparing. This is an immigration bill that they hope will be tougher on foreign criminals and legalize illegal workers in hard-to-find professions. Hence, in the absence of an absolute majority in the Assembly, the president asked them for reform “with fewer laws and more regulations”.

The pension reform must overcome other hurdles before it can be promulgated because since it is part of the social security budget law, the Constitutional Council must give its approval. In addition, appeals were filed by the left and the ultra-right National Regrouping because they believe that the law contains measures that go beyond the scope of social security financing and that the Government used tricks to shorten the debates in the Assembly. They hope that the Constitution will at least partially overturn the law.

And so far the main obstacle is the response from the streets, which is sometimes accompanied by riots. Yesterday, Borne blamed recalcitrant France. Thus, he said that his “verbal violence” in the National Assembly and systematic attacks on institutions and the police is what “spill over to the street”.