Sébastien Lecornu accepts the conditions of the Socialist Party

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“I will propose to Parliament this fall that we suspend the 2023 pension reform until the presidential election. No increase in age will take place from now until January 2028“, declared Sébastien Lecornu to the National Assembly on Tuesday October 14 in his general policy declaration. What if he had resolved the political crisis of this fall? Suspending the pension reform, an outstretched hand to the left, necessary for some, an incomprehensible sacrifice for others. A risky bet in any case for Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

A strategy carefully prepared in advance. In the morning, the Macronist, Horizons and LR deputies are invited to Matignon. The Prime Minister will announce his decision to them. And above all, reassure the deputies gathered around him. “Times are a little complicated. It’s true that we’ve had some disappointments over the last few days.“, assumes Prisca Thevenot, Renaissance MP for Hauts-de-Seine.

Suspend one of the most symbolic reforms of the five-year term. A sacrifice to convince the PS. “This suspension must install the confidence necessary to build new solutions“, demands the Prime Minister. Objective achieved. That evening, the socialists appeared satisfied. Their demands were heard. The Prime Minister also renounced 49.3 with a mantra repeated seven times. At the exit, the PS savored. “We will not censor the government of Sébastien Lecornu. We have obtained the greatest victory for social government in 25 years“, welcomes Philippe Brun, PS deputy for Eure.

To reassure his camp and the financial markets, Sébastien Lecornu insists: “To suspend is not to renounce, it is not to go backwards.“But the parliamentarians of the Central Bloc appear resigned, like the boss of the Horizons deputies, Paul Christophe, who is worried:”Suspending pension reform to offer a political victory, as symbolic as it is ephemeral, to the socialist group is a dangerous facility.“

As for the Republicans, could they go further and censor Sébastien Lecornu? At the podium, Laurent Wauquiez excludes him. But on X, Bruno Retailleau’s party is fuming. Éric Ciotti reaches out to LR, offers Bruno Retailleau on X a meeting and calls for censorship. Marine Le Pen had already set the tone in the morning: “Back to the polls!“.

Just like on the left, ecologists, communists and France Insoumise are questioning the legitimacy of Sébastien Lecornu. “Your presence before us is an affront to democracy“, asserts Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI group. The motions of censure from France Insoumise and the RN should be studied on Thursday October 16 in the morning.