the turbulent sessions in the Assembly, a great classic

New day of mobilization against pension reform. The unions have, of course, fixed their calendar on the parliamentary deadlines. And, as every time a text gives rise to a protest movement in the country, two legitimacies are expressed in parallel: that of Parliament and that of the street. The opponents of the text also try to feed one by the other.

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We saw it on Monday with the electric atmosphere that reigned in the hemicycle and the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt constantly heckled and interrupted by deputies from the overexcited Nupes. The ecologist Marine Tondelier promised to make Parliament a ZAD a “area to defend”deal !

To the point that the President of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, ended up launching to the left: “We are not in a demonstration!“. It is true that we would be mistaken, and it is done on purpose: by their attitude, the deputies of Nupes want to galvanize the mobilization of the demonstrators who, them … want to put pressure on the debates in Parliament.

But where will the final decision be made?

Still, the last word will be in Parliament. This is the very principle of representative democracy. By their vote, the electors delegated to the deputies and senators the mission of representing them and making the law. The democratic legitimacy of elected officials is indisputable and Parliament is sovereign. And that is why the elected representatives of Nupes being in the minority, they are tempted to call on the streets. The rebellious deputy François Ruffin considers, for example, that it is not in Parliament but “in the country that it will be settled, either by a revolt, or a lasting disgust“. Echoing this, the general secretary of the CGT Philippe Martinez already warns that the mobilization will continue after the adoption of the text.

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This is not a new phenomenon, it is even a great classic. Often, the parliamentary minority continues to demonstrate after the vote on the text. The left did so in 2010 after another pension reform was passed; the extreme right and part of the right did so in 2013 after the adoption of “marriage for all”. And each time, the majority in power castigates quasi-seditious behavior. “It’s not the street that rules“, said Jean-Pierre Raffarin 20 years ago. It is true. But Parliament cannot legislate either without hearing what is happening in the street.