Should a minister really say that? By letting go that women would be “penalized” by postponing the legal retirement age and that they would be de facto “more impacted” than men by the reform project defended by the presidential camp, Franck Riester did not only highlight the inability of the executive to tackle this inequality. With this outing, which did not fail to cause this week the start of a fire in a majority that we had rarely seen so feverish since the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, the Minister for Relations with Parliament also purely and simply gunned down the communication of the macronists who until then, with a few exceptions, swore hand on heart that, yes, this reform was ” fair “ and “balanced”.
“We were coming out of an already quite complicated sequence around the 44 years of contribution for long careers, laments a disappointed parliamentarian. Our speech on the intergenerational pact – not popular but courageous – began to be audible and there he speaks and, bim, BFM makes his banner on “Riester’s Dumpling”. »
The sequel after the ad
Sacrificed generations: behind the retirement age, social inequalities
At the dawn of a new day of mobilization and while a bitter parliamentary battle is looming – some 7,000 amendments must be examined in the Social Affairs Committee as of Monday – the macronists have doubts. The Republicans are playing with their nerves and even within the majority, cracks are emerging. A handful of deputies, like Barbara Pompili of Renaissance or the MoDem Richard Ramos, affirm that as it stands they will not vote for the text. Can the mini-slingshot expand in the face of public rejection?
A reform that “does not please anyone”
Especially since the polls do not bode well. According to a recent Elabe survey, 72% of French people are now hostile to reform: that’s 13 points more than two weeks ago. 74% of respondents believe that this reform is “unfair” and 62% that it will be “ineffective”.
The consideration provided by Elisabeth Borne – on the “small” pensions, in particular – have therefore not had the desired effect. Worse, less than one in two retirees now supports the government project. As for mobilization, it should not weaken: 14% of French people plan to “sure way” to take to the streets on Tuesday January 31, reports Ifop. They were 12% to consider it with such certainty on the eve of the demonstration of January 19th.
Has Emmanuel Macron already lost the battle for public opinion even before entering a perilous sequence during which opposition, in the street as at the Palais-Bourbon, will inexorably harden? At the table of the Council of Ministers, some think so and are already betting on a ” war of attrition “. “The virulence withers with time”wants to believe a member of the government who hopes that the French will dissociate themselves from possible blockages in transport or in refineries. “The movement is supported collectively, but as soon as it enters the field of personal life, this support becomes fragilecontinues this same minister. When it’s the ski vacation week that was planned with your children and you’re separated, there…”
The sequel after the ad
Luc Rouban: “The mobilization on pensions shows a distrust of the social hierarchy”
By publicly affirming, in its vows, that this reform does not “pleases no one”Did not Elisabeth Borne also acknowledge that the battle for public opinion was already lost?
The executive pays for his stubbornness
If several voices within the majority are still hoping for some possible “moves”, particularly on the issue of gender inequality, the executive is also paying, and quite cash, for its stubbornness in wanting to activate only one lever to finance its reform: that of extending working hours. For the time being, the two heads of the executive remain deaf to any idea relating to the increase in employers’ contributions (defended by the MoDem) or a drop in the level of pensions. “However, objectively, the question deserves to be raised”points out a deputy.
Pension reform: in the split majority, there are those who will not vote for it, those who hesitate and those who criticize
In this atmosphere of tension, the majority wonders about the failing communication around this reform. From the start, it lacked consistency. Was this much-heralded “mother of reforms” going to be used to finance school, health and ecological transition, as the president suggested? Or would it serve, on the contrary, as defended by Elisabeth Borne, to preserve a pension system supposedly in danger?
Under wraps, several Macronist deputies assigned to preach the good word of government on the plateaus have been deploring for weeks the absence of real political coordination to convey a clear message. The Elysée remaining, for the moment, in the background. “Matignon, the spokesperson and the Ministry of Labor send us elements but nothing comes from the Elysée”, regrets this deputy. Emmanuel Macron, who mourned membership around ” her “ reform, is he already preparing for the battle after?
