Emmanuel Macron celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Fifth Republic by going to the Constitutional Council this Wednesday, October 4. The French president proposed broadening the scope of the referendum as requested by certain political parties and returned to the idea of including the right to abortion in the Constitution.
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He spoke about it until the end of the night with the party leaders during the meeting in Saint-Denis. Emmanuel Macron formalizes his commitment to the possibility of organizing referendums on new subjects: “ There are still important areas which fall outside the scope of Article 11 of the Constitution. I opened this project in Saint-Denis with all the political forces and I hope that we can collectively find the means to complete this project. », declared Emmanuel Macron, Wednesday October 4 before the Constitutional Council.
The head of state, cautiously, does not say which areas would be concerned, but it is clearly a response to demands from the right and the far right who want the French to be consulted on immigration.
In the direction of the left, Emmanuel Macron said he was open to an implementation “ simpler » of the shared initiative referendum.
“ Macron, on the Constitution, wants to increase his power to bypass Parliament and put a stop to the popular initiative referendum », lamented on X Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The Insoumis leader is particularly targeting a warning from the Head of State regarding the shared initiative referendum (RIP): if Emmanuel Macron said he was in favor of a “ simplification » of its triggering, he was also worried that this RIP could “ undo what Parliament decided a year, two years, three years ago “.
For an inclusion of abortion in the Constitution “ as soon as possible »
The French president has finally confirmed his desire to see abortion included in the Constitution, even if the process is still at a standstill in Parliament: “ I expressed my hope, on March 8, that we could find a text agreeing the points of view between the National Assembly and the Senate, and allowing a congress to be convened in Versailles. I hope that this work of bringing together points of view will resume and be completed as soon as possible. ».
The question of including the right to abortion in the Constitution resurfaced in 2022 after the annulment of the ruling guaranteeing the United States the right to abortion throughout the country. In March, it was taken over by the head of state who had promised to include “ freedom » to resort to abortion in a “bill revising our Constitution”. The measure was also debated in Parliament via a bill adopted at first reading in the National Assembly then in the Senate but the parliamentary shuttle is currently at a standstill.
After having already tried twice to revise the Constitution, Emmanuel Macron is trying his luck again. But this still promises to be very complicated with a relative majority in the National Assembly and a Senate dominated by the right.
In a public statementOn Wednesday, the Women’s Foundation “ congratulates the President of the Republic’s desire to move forward” but warns that it ” will be attentive to the implementation of this announcement and the wording chosen “.