Used no less than ten times by the Prime Minister since her arrival at Matignon, could article 49.3 of the Constitution once again be the saving angel of the government? Since the beginning of January, debates on pension reform have been raging. Whether in the Assembly or the Senate, the text has led to intense discussions between the elected representatives of the Republic.
But the reform was finally voted in the Senate and must now be discussed in a joint committee. After that, the controversial project will return to parliament to be voted on by elected officials. For now, the outcome of this vote is unknown and it may well be difficult for the government to obtain a majority in the Chamber.
Indeed, the support of the LR group is becoming more and more volatile and several deputies like Aurélien Pradié, do not intend to vote in favor of the text. For the time being, according to 20 Minutes, between 30 and 35 Republican deputies intend to vote for the text while around fifteen could oppose it and around ten should abstain. Finally, the result of the vote which should be held on Thursday March 16 remains very uncertain and should be decided by a few votes.
If article 49.3 seems to be an alternative not to be ignored for the government, the spokesperson Olivier Véran assures that its use is not planned. “We do not want 49.3. We want to transform our relative majority into an absolute majority”, he assured on Sunday March 12 after a meeting of the ministers concerned by the reform organized by Elisabeth Borne, reports Le Parisien.
“We must seek a consensus together. This is why the Prime Minister is asking us to work and support the search for consensus”, he explained. A point confirmed by the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt. “We do not want 49.3 because we are convinced that we can build a majority in the Assembly. (…) We knew that there would be such an important mobilization. When we reform pensions in our country, we touch always something very sensitive.”, he explained to the microphone of BFMTV.
