The former President of the Republic was the guest of “8:30 am franceinfo”, Tuesday March 14, 2023.
François Hollande, former President of the Republic, was the guest of the 8:30 a.m. france infoTuesday March 14, 2023. Pension reform, nuclear power, Paris 2024 Olympics… He answered questions from Lorrain Sénéchal and Salhia Brakhlia.
Pensions: a “lack of dialogue and respect for social compromises”
François Hollande regrets the “lack of dialogue and respect for social compromises”in the context of debates on pension reform. “This does not give an image of our democracy as we wish”, he continues. If he denounces the obstruction of La France insoumise to the Assembly, he also points the finger at the attitude of the Minister of Labour. “Mr. Dussopt has a relationship with the truth that is sometimes a little distant”, believes François Hollande, in reference to the controversy around the minimum pension of 1,200 euros for the poorest retirees. He also denounces the fact that Olivier Dussopt presents this reform as a left-wing reform “as he negotiates with Les Républicains”.
Pension reform: the motion of censure is “legitimate” but “will not pass”
In the event of recourse to article 49.3 to force the text through to the Assembly on Thursday, François Hollande believes that “it’s up to the left to deposit” a motion of censure even if “everyone knows it won’t pass”. The former president sees it as a procedure “legit” but call to “do not let think that it can pass”.
Nuclear: “No reason to make a mea culpa” on the policy pursued
François Hollande considers that he has no “no reason to give a mea culpa” about his nuclear policy when he was in power. Like the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande will be heard Thursday, March 16 by the commission of inquiry in the Assembly on the loss of energy sovereignty of France. The former president assumes and “claim again” her “political objective” to reduce the share of nuclear power in French electricity production to 50% by 2025, the result of an agreement with Les Verts. François Hollande ensures that he considered that the “France could not, should not, get out of nuclear power” but that he “we had to have an energy mix”. He recalls, moreover, that it was not a question of closing power stations, but of “raise renewable energies”. A promise that will ultimately never be kept. “I did not close any plant during the period of my mandate, I decided to close Fessenheim on the condition that the Flamanville plant opens, so nuclear production was stable”defended the former president.
Paris 2024 Olympics: “No other solution” than to exclude Russian athletes
François Hollande believes that there is “no other solution” than excluding Russian athletes from the Paris Olympics. “It is very painful and unfair for these athletes, but they have a president who attacked another country and who continues to bombard a civilian population”, regrets the former head of state. According to François Hollande, even if these athletes compete under a neutral banner, this “will be used by the Russian regime”. “They will be forced, at one time or another, to claim their government”he concludes.
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