Pensions: Using 49.3 is ‘heartbreaking’ but ‘not a failure’ says Dussopt

The application of Article 49.3 for pension reform is not a “failure”, says Olivier Dusseau. “It would be a failure if there were no text, and there is text,” the labor secretary told RMC/BFMTV this Friday. He added that he would have preferred to hold a vote, which the executive branch sought “until the last minute.”

“Indeed, there was no majority in the National Assembly, because a certain number of members of the LR group did not respond and did not follow the position taken by their party. But this is not a failure, because there is a text and this text will be implemented if the vote of no confidence is rejected,” he continued.

Before deciding to use 49.3, “we noticed that for such an important text, there were not enough guarantees and that the risk zone was too large.”

“Moment of Difficulty”

To the question that only three votes would not be enough to adopt the text, he replied: “When you put marks, you score on 577 deputies, one shot – three, one shot – four.”

The minister recognized “a moment of difficulty”, “a moment when political life is interrupted, because 49.3, it is interrupting.” But “after 49.3 you have to remember how the debate went, with a lot of violence. I never knew a half-cycle in which hatred so prevailed over reason.

Asked if he was still legitimate, Olivier Dusseau replied “of course”, adding that the prime minister “enjoyed the support of the majority and the confidence of the president”. As for the emotions of Elizabeth Borne, which the deputies mentioned after 49.3, he assured that she is “very solid”, she “does not cry”.