National Assembly puts pressure on government to resume work

Yaël Braun-Pivet puts the subject of end of life back on the table. The President of the Assembly hopes that the examination of the text, stopped by the dissolution, will resume before the end of 2024.

On the end of life, the President of the Assembly “won’t let go of the matter“, according to her entourage. Yaël Braun-Pivet did not just publicly request on BFM that work on active assistance in dying be resumed in Parliament. She also addressed the subject in front of the Prime Minister at the conference of presidents in the Assembly on Tuesday, September 24. Yaël Braun-Pivet explained to Michel Barnier that among the emergencies, there is this law on active assistance in dying. The Prime Minister “hears“this concern, but”ask for time” to the deputies. Yaël Braun-Pivet therefore insisted again before he left: “we care about it“Around the table, some group presidents understood that the Prime Minister was not doing anything”not a priority“.

Michel Barnier is stalling because the issues of assisted suicide and euthanasia are very sensitive to the government, with the arrival of a conservative wing embodied in particular by Bruno Retailleau. The Minister of the Interior believes that “Being brotherly is not giving death“. Elected officials who contacted the Prime Minister received no assurance that the bill would be put back on track. Matignon limited itself to saying that “The Prime Minister will have the opportunity to give his position“. He could address the subject in his general policy statement on Tuesday, October 1. In the meantime, the deputies are putting on the pressure. MoDem deputy Olivier Falorni, who has been very committed to assisted dying for years, has just resubmitted a bill, which takes up the work started before the dissolution.

There are 166 deputies who have signed this bill, from nine different groups, from Yaël Braun-Pivet to the former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, including the presidents of the PS groups Boris Vallaud, environmentalist Cyrielle Châtelain, and rebellious Mathilde Panot.If the government does not want to move forward, the Assembly will take it up, we can have a majority on this subject.“, they assure us at the Palais-Bourbon.”It’s time to show that the Assembly is a big girl” insists a deputy.

A minister also finds “It’s very good that Parliament is doing its job.“, because this “Compromise government cannot put all issues on the table“. Even if a figure of the Macronie considers that “Michel Barnier would be well advised to take up the issue again to attract the left and break the logic of the blocs“. Olivier Falorni challenges Michel Barnier: “If he wants to prove that his government is progressive, let us debate it.“. Because even if the government does not support it, it would at least have to give the deputies some time, otherwise the examination of the proposal will be much more laborious to organize technically.