France delivered to a band of ideologues and calculators, by Jean-François Copé – L’Express

France delivered to a band of ideologues and calculators by

There are certain circumstances in which politicians can go crazy. Like “The Parable of the Blind”, this painting by Brueghel, the spectacle we helplessly witness in the National Assembly constitutes a sad illustration. We predicted that the decision to dissolve the Assembly taken by Emmanuel Macron on June 9 would have catastrophic consequences on the regular functioning of our institutions and the political stability of our country. The safeguards planned sixty-six years ago by the constituents were thus blown away one after the other from the first hours of the examination of the finance law for 2025.

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First of all, this dissolution offered the power of total destruction to the two extremist parties on a platter. 319 unleashed RN and NFP deputies without qualms offer a mind-boggling festival of demagoguery with tax increases exclusively reserved for their favorite scapegoats, the rich and the bosses. And of course, no serious proposal to reduce public spending is proposed in their amendments.

Prevent neighbor from gaining points in polls

Then the fragile government coalition born from what remained of the government parties, instead of uniting in the face of the seriousness of the situation, got lost in unimaginable political divisions. Obsessed by the 2027 presidential election, the leaders of the different teams have only one idea in mind, to prevent their neighbor from gaining points in the polls. They are tearing each other apart over command posts in the National Assembly to the point of offering a vice-presidency of the Assembly and the strategic presidency of the Economic Affairs Committee to the NFP rather than peacefully sharing responsibilities.

Worse still, here they are incapable of courage on difficult subjects concerning retirement pensions or the one-off reduction of overabundant apprenticeship credits. Without forgetting – absolute shame – the behavior of the MoDem, normally centrist, which votes for the tax increases proposed by the far left, or even drafts their worst amendments itself. Finally, as if that were not enough, the government sees some of its ministers threatening to resign on the grounds that their credits would be cut!

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When will this nightmare end?

The real question, the French have been asking since the beginning of this sad month of October: when will this nightmare end? For how long will these people who are supposed to embody national representation continue to play arsonists? Our country was happy until June 9 and now it is sinking because it is being handed over to a group of ideologues on one side and calculators on the other. For six weeks, the French economy has been holding its breath. Investment, hiring and consumption decisions in businesses, local authorities and of course households have come to a grinding halt. Everyone is stunned by this spectacle of shame. As if we had forgotten that support for Michel Barnier’s government was neither about commitment nor emotion, but about the political survival of the country.

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SO ? So we will have to show authority and signal the end of madness. A teaching meeting will be seriously necessary. Firstly, to recall that in the short term, the decline in the deficit is being scrutinized by the financial markets which are in the process of including the French debt in the table of major risks. And in the long term, because structural reforms are essential – the French know this very well even if it annoys them. Increase weekly working hours, reform unemployment insurance, further extend the retirement age in line with the European average which is 67 years, reduce the number of civil servants, reduce operating expenses including The effectiveness is no longer demonstrated and which inevitably lead us towards filing for bankruptcy. The truth is that there is no drama or tragedy in implementing these measures. These are common sense decisions that all reasonable family or business leaders apply. Reasonable ? But yes of course, the opposite of madness.

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