MPs want to build bridges
The MPs refused to sit on May 2 and 9, as the government had requested, in order to complete the simplification law. Many of them already have constituency commitments. Overall, they denounce a government that is doing whatever it wants with the parliamentary agenda.
The MPs unanimously voted "no" to the executive's last-minute proposal to sit on May 2 and 9, even though the Assembly is returning from a 15-day parliamentary recess. The Conference of Presidents, that is, the representatives of each political party, rejected these two additional sitting days, which fall on two May bank holidays.
The government wanted the National Assembly to sit for two more days to limit the legislative backlog. The Assembly has been running at a standstill since the dissolution, and important legislation is currently in the pipeline, such as the highly sensitive end-of-life bill and the bill to simplify economic life.
But "Friday is constituency day," summarizes an RN MP to justify the refusal to sit these two days. MPs are not usually in the Assembly on these days. They go out into the field to meet their constituents. A rebellious MP explains that on Friday, May 2, she has an appointment with the midwives of a maternity hospital in her area and that there is no question of letting them down to please the government. Another example from a socialist MP from the Southwest: he is expected at a fair in his constituency on May 1. It is impossible for him to return to sit on Friday because he has a 6-hour train ride to reach Paris. Bitter comment from a Macronist MP: "All this was predictable. The executive lacks rigor, it needs to anticipate a little more."
But the executive has found a way around this, opening three additional weekends this month. Plenary sessions, that is, in the hemicycle, are scheduled for Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17, Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24, and Friday, May 30 and Saturday, May 31. This time, the MPs' permission is not required because it falls on weeks whose agenda belongs to the government. But this time, the pill is not going down well. "It's a form of collective punishment," the National Rally criticizes. "There will be no one there except two or three Parisian MPs," predicts a Macronist MP.
Activate franceinfo notifications and don't miss any news
You can change your mind at any time in your browser settings.
Francetvinfo
%3Aquality(70)%2Fcloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com%2Fliberation%2FIGORPZY7CJDGNBNJNFQHWSIRWI.jpg&w=1280&q=100)
