After articles 49.3 and 47.1 of the Constitution used by the government, the right, majority in the Luxembourg Palace, could make use of this text to close the discussions on amendments or articles of the bill.
“If our oppositions were tempted by obstruction, then we should without hesitation use the tools which, in our regulations, make it possible to block the blockage”. The formula is signed Bruno Retailleau in The Parisian, February 25. The boss of the LR senators, in the majority in the upper house, confirms to franceinfo that he is thinking, among other things, of using article 38 of the Senate’s rules of procedure. Introduced in 2015, this text has never been used, but it promises to be potentially explosive if it were to be brandished during the debates on pension reform at the Luxembourg Palace, which began on Thursday March 2.
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It provides that when at least two speakers of a contrary opinion have taken part in the general discussion of a text, on an entire article or in the explanations of vote relating to an amendment, an article or the whole text under discussion, the President of the Senate, a group president or the president of the committee concerned – that of social affairs – may propose the end of the discussion. There “fence” is then adopted or not by the senators by a vote “sitting and standing”, according to the regulations.
“A coup de force”?
This article could prove useful to the right to speed up the debates when more than 4,700 amendments have been tabled on the text of the pensions, of which a large majority by the opposition on the left. Gérard Larcher displays his determination to go to the end of the examination of the text and to vote on the bill, unlike the National Assembly, which did not go beyond article 2. “The Senate will go to the end of the debate on pensions”thus warned the President of the Senate, in an interview with the Figaro.
Doubt nevertheless remains on the interpretation of this article since there is no precedent in the matter. Laurence Rossignol, PS vice-president of the Senate, disputes in particular its possible use for close the discussions on the whole text. Politically, this hypothesis remains unlikely as it would give food for thought to opponents of the reform, quick to denounce a passage in force.
But this option remains much more possible on a specific amendment or article. “It is a procedural instrument that could become the tool of a coup against the opposition in the Senate. If article 38 were to be used, we would still be intimidated”assures Laurence Rossignol to franceinfo. The left opposition fears this scenario, starting with the boss of the socialist senators, Patrick Kanner.
“If article 38 of the regulations is drawn, that will limit the debate. We will be caught in a double obstruction: the 47.1 of the government and the obstruction of the senatorial majority on the right.
Patrick Kanner, President of the Socialist Group in the Senateat franceinfo
“It can be a dangerous bet”
On the left, we therefore sharpen our arguments in the event of recourse to article 38. “Is the senatorial majority there as a government auxiliary to constrain the opposition or to defend the right of Parliament to debate an essential text to the end?”, asks the socialist senator Rémi Féraud. “We would have there the senatorial right which would come to the aid of the government to save the text of the pensions”criticizes the environmentalist senator, Mélanie Vogel.
“Are they going to be useful government idiots on the right?”
Mélanie Vogel, environmental senatorat franceinfo
“The regulations have been approved by the Constitutional Council and the obstruction is a diversion”replies Bruno Retailleau. “Of course it is legal and in our rules. But is it legitimate in a debate of such importance? It is a brutal article”, replies Patrick Kanner. For its part, the presidential camp, a minority in the Senate but which has reached an agreement on the essentials of its text with LR, minimizes the hypothesis of recourse to article 38. “It is nevertheless difficult to use. Its use is restrictive”, insists François Patriat, who chairs the group of Macronist senators at the Luxembourg Palace. “We can’t do it either on 500 amendments in a row.”
There remains one last fact not to be overlooked for the government: the reaction of the street, which could become even more tense in the face of this reform. The left is well aware of this. “Section 47.1 and now Article 38 to force through a text that has not even been voted on in the National Assembly… It can be a dangerous bet”warns Rémi Féraud.