After the decision of the Constitutional Council on Friday, the inter-union had asked “solemnly” President Emmanuel Macron “not to promulgate the law”. Their request remained a dead letter: by promulgating the text in Official newspaper in the night, the Head of State opposed them to an end of inadmissibility.
The President of the Republic had fifteen days after the validation of most of the reform measures on Friday by the Constitutional Council to affix his signature, thus giving it the force of text. “The social security code is thus amended […] In the first paragraph, the word: ‘sixty-two’ is replaced by the word: ‘sixty-four'”, states the text.
This ultra-rapid promulgation is the sign of a “contempt” and a “febrility”, denounced Saturday the number one of the PS, Olivier Faure, who promised a “democratic harassment” to return to the 64 years. “It’s a democratic hold-up,” added the rebellious François Ruffin. “Absurd display of arrogance”, tweeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while RN deputies encouraged to “use the ballot” in 2027.
“It looks like provocation”
Side trade unions also, the blow is hard. The national secretary of the CFDT, Yvan Ricordeau, expressed his “incomprehension” in the face of this “forceful passage”. “Wanting to go fast, it looks like provocation,” added Frédéric Souillot, from FO. All the unions have expressed their “determination” to continue the fight against this reform, starting by declining an invitation to the Elysee Palace officially received when the law was initialed by Emmanuel Macron. The inter-union is betting on the traditional meeting of May 1: it wishes to transform it into “a day of exceptional and popular mobilization” against the heart of the reform, retirement at 64.
The promulgation, “it is the logical continuation”, justified for his part the Minister of Relations with Parliament Franck Riester, for whom “we have no collective interest in constantly returning to the same subject”. The Head of State will speak on Monday evening, after having brought together the executives of the majority at the Elysée. Reconnecting with the unions will not be easy. “There will be resentment, scars”, slips a close friend of the head of state.
On Friday, the Constitutional Council validated most of the pension reform, except for six provisions including the “senior index”. On the other hand, he blocked a first request for a referendum of shared initiative (RIP) from the left, which hoped to start collecting 4.8 million signatures for an unprecedented consultation of the French.
“There is no winner or loser,” assured Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, referring to “the end of the institutional and democratic journey” of the text adopted in the Assembly after a 49.3. “It’s not over,” promised the inter-union in response, convinced that not enacting the law was the “only way to calm the anger […]The Constitutional Council, however, recognized the “unusual nature” of the accumulation of procedures aimed at restricting debates in Parliament.