Pensions: Assembly rejects Socialist motion of censure against François Bayrou

Has François Bayrou gained a quarter? The Prime Minister survived an eighth motion of censure on Tuesday , tabled by the Socialist Party (PS) and supported by the left, but not by the National Rally (RN), which has set a date for budget debates in the autumn.

Unsurprisingly, in the announced absence of support from Le Pen deputies and their UDR allies, the motion of censure only received 189 votes out of the 289 needed to bring down the government.

Nearly five months after their non-censorship agreement to allow the State and Social Security budgets to pass, the Socialists accused the Prime Minister of "betrayal," against the backdrop of the pensions conference between social partners, which concluded without an agreement.

The Socialists criticize François Bayrou for having promised in his initial letter a discussion between social partners "without totem or taboo", and for having promised the "final word in Parliament", before closing the door to a lowering of the legal retirement age and to the idea of ​​submitting a text containing the age measure to Parliament.

However, the Prime Minister set the condition in his letter of "a political agreement and (a) maintained overall financial balance." "By breaking your promise, you have chosen dishonor," declared Socialist Estelle Mercier from the podium, defending the motion of censure, associating this expert on Henri IV with the figure of a "Ravaillac," who "stabbed the list of (his) commitments."

In response, François Bayrou mocked the motion of censure, which he said was a pretext for the Socialist Party to remind people that it was "in opposition," and invoked "the duty" of "the general interest," which was "stronger than all threats" of censure.

On the substance, he defended the progress made during the conclave that he intends to present to Parliament in the autumn in the Social Security budget, in particular for retirement without a reduction at 66 and a half years, or for women's pensions.

And the head of government insisted on the financial balance of the pension system, under penalty of provoking "a war between generations": "If no one warns, if no one listens, we will lose ourselves in over-indebtedness."

"The reality is that our pension system is jeopardizing our future and that of our children," added Stéphane Vojetta, who is affiliated with the Macronist group.

The left also attacked the National Rally. "In this series of detestable maneuvers, you have a definite support, the National Rally," which "will not repeal the pension reform," Hadrien Clouet (LFI) rebuked from the podium.

"For all National Rally (RN) voters, this vote will be a revelation. Le Pen and Bardella are on social, economic, and fiscal grounds, and are the continuation of Macron and Bayrou," responded Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.

"We are committed to reversing a reform that is (...) useless (...) ineffective" and "deeply unjust," RN speaker Gaëtan Dussausaye had previously stated.

But above all, he gave a "budget appointment," listing a series of "red lines": "new blows against the purchasing power of the French" and "additional taxes or duties on businesses until you have reduced the state's standard of living."

He also cited the "social VAT." In response to the idea of ​​a "blank year," which would involve freezing pensions, social benefits, and the income tax scale to save money, he replied that the National Rally would only support "a blank year for France's net contribution to the European Union budget."

Finally, on the energy issue, he stated that his group did not want "a decree on multi-year energy programming to evacuate in a few seconds an essential element of French sovereignty", while debates on this subject are due to resume in the Assembly in September.

And the fall promises to be a stormy one for the Prime Minister, who will have to navigate threats of censure to find €40 billion in savings. With the most minimalist support from the central bloc, which is quick to tear itself apart.

"Either way, he'll fall. The only question is when. If it's in the fall, that's in the nature of things," believes a Macronist official. "François Bayrou has been threatened with censure since the day after his appointment," philosophizes Patrick Mignola, Minister for Relations with Parliament and close to the Prime Minister, promising "a courageous budget."