After the examination of the text on the pension reform ended Friday evening at the Palais Bourbon, without discussions on the article pushing back the legal retirement age, La France insoumise (LFI) was at the heart of the criticisms , Sunday, February 19. The secretary general of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martinez, attacked in the program "BFM Politique" its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who according to him does not "promote the clarity of the debates" .
Mr. Martinez regretted LFI's strategy of upholding thousands of amendments, preventing consideration of Article 7 on raising the legal age to 64, while pointing to "a responsibility of the government which chose a expedited procedure". "The fact that we didn't go to article 7 so that everyone could post their position, that's a problem," he noted. "We had to put the deputies, each deputy, before their responsibilities. »
"Through many incidents - let's put it that way - we talked about these incidents more than the substance of the problem and what is being debated in the street" with the union mobilization, he said, pointing to " political forces [who] try to substitute themselves for trade unions and put themselves ahead of [those] marching in the streets”. And to further criticize the desire "sometimes on the benches of the National Assembly and particularly of La France insoumise, to appropriate the social movement to relegate the unions to the background".
Mr. Mélenchon reacted directly to Mr. Martinez's remarks in the afternoon: "Let's forget these divisive remarks. Thank you MPs who blocked the passage of retirement at 64,” he wrote on his Twitter account. The former presidential candidate called for "being united" to "succeed on March 7", the date of the next day of mobilization, as well as "widening the front of commitment and not stunting it". On Sunday, the national secretary of the Communist Party (PCF), Fabien Roussel, for his part called on the left-wing coalition to "draw inspiration" from inter-union unity.
"No other will than to hurt and damage"
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party is also the target of bitter accusations in the ranks of the presidential majority. LFI has "missed everything" in the National Assembly, said Sunday, on Radio J, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, who also attacked "the violence" of the left party.
“LFI has missed everything in this debate: not an amendment adopted, the Nupes is fractured, half of the socialists have deserted the ranks so they were ashamed. Their strategy didn't work, their tactics didn't work and they gave the worst image of themselves. Violence is a hallmark of LFI, with the desire to exacerbate divisions, to create conflict between differences. The goal is to delegitimize those who have responsibilities, the institutions in a kind of pseudo-revolutionary movement. There is no other will than to hurt and damage. »
The minister said he was personally hurt by the attacks that targeted him during the debates, and in particular that of LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul. "When you're called a murderer in a hemicycle, it's hurtful," he said, adding, "that's one word too much," and "it can't be forgiven." The LFI deputies "have demonstrated their uselessness, their ability to damage rather than build", insisted Mr. Dussopt, saying he was eager for the debates to begin in the Senate, where the left is "a republican left ".
