Pension reform: Nupes bids for referendum

At the initiative of the Communists, 98 deputies from the Nupes party applied for a referendum on the draft pension reform, which will be considered by the Assembly on February 6 at the opening of parliamentary debates. This “referendum proposal” aims to suspend consideration of the government draft presented on Monday in the Council of Ministers to start on the same day in a semi-cycle to submit the text to the referendum and thus “return the floor to the government”. people in this decisive choice for their future,” the Left Alliance said in a statement.

Strongly opposed to the postponement of the legal retirement age to 64, like the rest of Nupe, PCF President Fabien Roussel assured CNews on Tuesday that “the government has chosen lockdown and confrontation, a choice that serves the interests of France. “. “We must get out of this crisis from above. That is why we propose to return the word to the people and do it through a referendum” in order to “get out of this impasse,” he justified. “I hope that we will calmly discuss everything together and choose” , he said.

The four Nupes leaders in the Assembly signed the proposal: André Chassin (PCF), Mathilde Pano (LFI), Boris Vallot (PS) and Cyriel Chatelain (EELV). It still has to be considered valid for being discussed.

Mass opposition in public opinion

The government’s project “produces opposition from the vast majority of French men and women and unprecedented social mobilization,” they justified in an explanatory note, where they believe that “the referendum is a real democratic duty.” “Pension reform is a tax on life! On people’s lives! This is reality! ‘ Boris Vallo muttered on Sud Radio.

If they succeed in getting the Assembly to vote on February 6, the proposal will immediately go to the Senate, which must decide within 30 days. And even passed by the two chambers, it’s just a referendum proposal made to the President, whether or not it should be accepted.

MP leader RN Marine Le Pen said on Monday she would also submit such a “referendum proposal” to the Assembly.

When asked about this option at the LCI on Tuesday morning, Gabriel Attal dismissed it. “We had a real debate in our country on the issue of pensions during the presidential and parliamentary elections. Retirement – at 65 at the time – I heard about it! “, – recalled the Minister of Public Accounts. And add that “in the legislative elections, several parties proposed programs with a decrease in the starting age”, in particular the Republicans. “If you calculate, then the majority in Parliament” favors this point of reform.