“I hope they don’t make us wait until 11 p.m.”, plague an elected LR to his comrades. Under a radiant sun and unusual heat for October 19, a small group of parliamentarians waits a few steps from the National Assembly. It is 1:30 p.m. and, in a few hours, Elisabeth Borne will trigger 49.3, this article of the Constitution which will allow the government to have the 2023 budget adopted without a vote. The motions of censure of the oppositions having very little chance of being adopted.
The little betting game of the day is to guess at what time the head of government will appear on the podium, and not to know if she will come. Not having an absolute majority in the Assembly, the government had no choice but to use this constitutional tool, the oppositions having announced from the start that they would vote against the finance bill (PLF) .
Seated around a burger and fries near the Palais-Bourbon, a Renaissance deputy makes his predictions. “Borne completes the QAGs [Questions au gouvernement] in the Senate around 4:15 p.m., she returns to Matignon to change and put an end to her speech. Come on, around 5:45 p.m., she’s on the roost.” In the bullseye, it will be exactly that.
Less than a hundred deputies are present in the hemicycle at the opening of the session, which begins with a debate on the levy on revenue for the benefit of the European Union. Some are tapping away on their phones, others are chatting with their classmates or reading a book. Misery of the Fifth Republic, of Bastien François, in the case of Alexis Corbière. “A strong criticism against the Fifth Republic and 49.3”according to the deputy La France insoumise (LFI).
In the majority, we are satisfied with a smoothly conducted sequence, the debates having been at their end. “We showed the French that we wanted to debate to the end. Everyone understands today that we have no choice but 49.3 to adopt a budget”, welcomes the young Renaissance deputy Pierre Cazeneuve. In the hall of Quatre Colonnes, a traditional meeting place between journalists and deputies, the elected representatives of the opposition seem resigned.
It is 2:30 p.m. and, for MP LR Véronique Louwagie, “everyone expected it, we must not be hypocritical. It is a legal tool which allows France not to be blocked on its budget”. She also warns that she will not vote for a motion of censure for “don’t add chaos to chaos”. Obviously different story on the Nupes side. If Cyrielle Chatelain, president of the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) group, recognizes quality debates, she castigates “a government that made a media soap opera of 49.3” and denounces “a contempt for the vote of the French”.
Two hours later, the benches of the hemicycle are just beginning to fill up. The debates on the European Union are a little more vigorous while Gabriel Attal, the Minister of Public Accounts, arrives at the Palais-Bourbon. Smiling, the former government spokesman salutes the quality of the debates.
Exclusive reaction to the microphone of @franceinfo of the minister @GabrielAttal before entering the hemicycle and 49.3: “We had a great debate for 10 days, we examined 3500 amendments and spent 60 hours in this hemicycle ⤵️ @franceinfoplus #PLF2023 #Attal pic.twitter.com/9iHivCVHa9
— Antoine Comte (@AntoineCOMTE) October 19, 2022
Elisabeth Borne is scheduled to arrive around 5:30 p.m. for a very brief four-minute speech. In the hemicycle precisely, the spirits are heated while the clock is ticking. “Elisabeth Borne will get out of her car and say to Parliament: ‘Shut up, shut your mouth,’ attacks the communist deputy Sébastien Jumel. Missed. The head of government is not in the car, but on foot.
Elisabeth Borne on foot towards the Assembly where she will engage the responsibility of her government on the first part of the budget by article 49.3 #AFP pic.twitter.com/XXD8zfLM6y
— Anne Renaut (@AnneRenaut) October 19, 2022
The sitting is suspended for ten minutes. At the Four Columns, the press is the crane foot in the hope of immortalizing the arrival of the Prime Minister. When the debates resume, there is hardly room for doubt: it is no longer the deputy RN Sébastien Chenu who chairs the session but indeed Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the National Assembly.
“Madam Prime Minister, you have the floor”, declares the deputy of Yvelines. “Already in mourning”mocks an opposition deputy on the benches, the head of government being dressed in black. “Two observations are essential: on the sixth day of the debate, a good number of amendments are still to be examined”she begins. “So what ?”strangles the opposition. “Then, and above all, the oppositions all reaffirmed their desire to reject the text”, continues Elisabeth Borne, before announcing that she therefore engages the responsibility of her government on the first part of the budget, on the basis of article 49.3. The reaction in the hemicycle is immediate: the Nupes leaves the benches, the RN remains silent, the majority rises and applauds wildly.
The Nupes leaves the benches of the AN, the majo applauds pic.twitter.com/6NiMiSVJPY
— Margaux Duguet (@MargauxDuguet) October 19, 2022
On the perch, Yaël Braun-Pivet declares that the National Assembly takes note of this decision and announces the suspension of the debates. The text is now considered adopted, unless a motion of censure is tabled within 24 hours. Precisely, at the same time, the elected representatives of the left arrive en masse at the Four Columns and announce their desire to table a motion of censure. “Macronism becomes authoritarianism”, launches Mathilde Panot, the LFI leader.
“With a 49.3, we have proof that they still chose brutality. That’s why we decided to file a motion of no confidence.”
Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI group at the Assemblyfacing the press
“The government has treated us like doormats, it’s a disgrace to democracy.”, chokes the communist André Chassaigne. On the side of the majority, we highlight the arguments repeated for several days already. “I want France to be able to have a budget. There were ten days of debates, defends in a hubbub the deputy Renaissance Mathieu Lefèvre. Even before the debates started, the Nupes said that they were going to vote against the macronie budget, as they say.
Journalists are now waiting to know if the National Rally has already tabled its motion of censure. The answer will come from Jean-Philippe Tanguy, who announces the tabling of a motion on Thursday, while assuring that he “appears complicated“to vote for that of Nupes. A little earlier in the afternoon, the RN deputy assured by text message that “the government has chosen a horrible scenario for itself where it will have to justify canceling votes in the National Assembly on very popular measures.
The risk nevertheless seems measured both from the side of public opinion and from a political point of view. None of the opposition groups is, at this stage, really in a position to overthrow the government. The Nupes will not vote for the RN motion, and vice versa. And it would be necessary that the deputies Les Républicains also vote one of these motions so that it succeeds. A possibility excluded for several days by Olivier Marleix, the boss of the LR deputies. It is now time to examine the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS), with the focus on a possible second 49.3.