Elisabeth Borne is categorical. The Prime Minister does not intend to return or discuss the postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64, the central point of the government's bill on pension reform massively contested by the unions and the essential oppositions.
"It is no longer negotiable, retirement at 64 and the acceleration [of the extension of the contribution period] of the Touraine reform", declared, Sunday January 29 on Franceinfo, the Prime Minister, on the eve the beginning of the examination of the draft in committee at the Assembly.
"This is the compromise that we proposed after having heard the employers' and trade union organizations, after having exchanged with the various parliamentary groups (…) It is necessary to ensure the balance of the system", she added.
"If we had only one parameter, then it wouldn't be forty-three years of contribution and 64 years to be able to retire, it could be forty-five years of contribution period, which seems impossible to us to ask the French, "she pleads in this interview carried out on Saturday, on the sidelines of a trip to the Calvados constituency of which she was elected deputy.
The left denounces a "provocation"
Several left-wing officials denounced a "provocation" by the prime minister after her remarks. For Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise (LFI), the head of government "bombs her chest" by trying "to send a message which is: we [ne] will not move, we [ne] will not retreat". "They want to force through, so the best response will be millions of people in the streets on Tuesday," launched the LFI deputy from Bouches-du-Rhône on BFM-TV. "I hope that the mobilization will be more important than last January 19, which was already a very big demonstration, and I have rather positive signals for the moment", he assured.
"She is choosing hard confrontation, and I am asking the Prime Minister to respect the freedom of the French people to say no to this reform," commented Communist leader Fabien Roussel: "If the government header, as she is doing today, it is really a provocation, forty-eight hours from the demonstration". “Those who have the hardest, most radical, most intransigent positions today are those of the government. (…) The Prime Minister has chosen social chaos, ”said the deputy from the North, guest of CNews, Europe 1 and Les Echos.
The former 2022 presidential candidate calls on the French in response "to mobilize and show for a day, everyone, whether they are business leaders, craftsmen, employees, workers, local elected officials, an unfailing determination, peaceful".
Possible Discussions About Women's Trimesters
In her interview with Franceinfo, the head of government was open, on the other hand, to a discussion in Parliament on better use of the "education" and "maternity" terms obtained by women during their careers.
"As of today, there are many women who cannot use them to the full, we are analyzing the situation of these women who (…) may not use them to the full tomorrow", explains Ms. Borne .
The deputies seize on Monday in committee the highly contested pension reform project, for a trial run on 7,000 amendments, under the eye of opponents who are organizing a high point of mobilization in the street on Tuesday, after that of the 19 January.
In an interview with Le Parisien on Saturday, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin denounces "the deep contempt for the value of work" of part of the left, which he accuses of seeking "to mess up the country". “To bring our pension system into balance, yes, we have to work harder. We must not say anything else and assume it, ”says Mr. Darmanin, castigating “those who think that we have to work less and less and defend the right to laziness”.
“Gérald Darmanin is an agitator and, to get noticed, he comes to add a little oil to the fire. The role of an interior minister is to appease the country, not to agitate it, and therefore if Gérald Darmanin wants to teach the Nupes a lesson, let him start teaching it to himself. and that he stops agitating the country and provoking the French, "said the executive vice-president of the Republicans (LR), Aurélien Pradié. “I myself have a clear opposition to the current reform bill, because it is unfair. You can be opposed to this reform without being an awful leftist who would like to mess up the country,” he insisted.
The LR deputy from Lot once again pleaded on France 3 for an exemption from the age of 64 for those who started working before the age of 21 and warned that this "principle is not negotiable", ensuring that he was ready to vote against the reform if not. Does he feel he can be heard during the discussion in the National Assembly? “I had it for a few days, since I listened to the Prime Minister; we were told that she wanted to have a dialogue, that they didn't want to go through with force", but "I admit that the little nudge of the chin this morning is starting to make me think that, basically, the macronists will never change" , he regretted. "I won't be in a silly and mean opposition, like no one among the Republicans, but we have a condition on the table," Mr. Pradié warned.
