Emmanuel Macron was very firm on Wednesday September 28 during the dinner organized to move forward on the pension file. The president did not hesitate to threaten to dissolve the National Assembly to provoke new legislative elections if the debates on pension reform in Parliament do not succeedissent and a motion of censure is voted overthrowing the government: “I don’t want the mess, if a motion of censure is voted, I dissolve in the minute that follows“, he declared, according to information gathered by franceinfo. Still according to comments reported by the Head of State, this reform is “necessary“.
“I have an electoral mandate, we cannot procrastinate (…) I am here to make the reforms and I will do them.”
Emmanuel Macronduring dinner at the Elysée
The tone is therefore set for one of the participants who declares: Emmanuel Macron “want to do battle, it was firm and tonic.“
Around the table, about twenty people, ministers concerned by the file and leaders of all the components of the majority for a dinner of more than three hours. On the menu: seafood. Concerning the backstage of this dinner and the more general atmosphere, François Bayrou, the president of the Modem arrived slightly late, Edouard Philippe spoke very softly, just like Elisabeth Borne, which amused a other participant:I didn’t hear a thing she said“, he laughs before adding that according to him, the Prime Minister is now in charge “to do the after-sales service“by opening consultations until Christmas on the pension reform.
During this dinner, and after 15 days of procrastination in the majority, two lines clashed: first that of the ministers Bruno Le Maire, Gabriel Attal, of the secretary general of Renaissance Stéphane Séjourné, of the president of the deputies Renaissance Aurore Bergé and François Patriat, the leader of the Macronists in the Senate. All supporters of a rapid pension reform: “Waiting too long is a lose-lose“, slice one of them while another then tries to convince Emmanuel Macron to go quickly: “If you don’t do it now, we lose our electorate and our credibility.“
Another line defended, this time by François Bayrou, the president of the MoDem, the ministers Franck Riester, Olivier Dussopt and Jean-François Mattei, the president of the Modem group in the National Assembly, who denounce “a forceful passage“: “The French did not vote for retirement, we must discuss“, says one of them.
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Finally, after a round table, Emmanuel Macron made his decision. Elisabeth Borne announced overnight that a new consultation was beginning. The talks – which are due to start as early as next week – are scheduled to last until Christmas, with a view to examining a specific bill”before the end of winter“, to vote at the beginning of the year 2023. The goal being – commitment made by Emmanuel Macron – “entry into force of the reform in the summer of 2023“.
One of the participants congratulates franceinfo: “The government does not pass in force, it discusses“, another is also delighted that the dialogue is “respected“, while a third states: “Intelligence wants us not to force through, otherwise we will crystallize the thing“.