the government suspends discussions in the Assembly this weekend, in full closure before voting

The budget debate is still far from being concluded in the Assembly, there are 1,900 amendments remaining. However, the government announced, during the night from Thursday to Friday, that the deputies will not sit this weekend.

On the night of Thursday November 13 to Friday November 14, the minister in charge of relations with Parliament Laurent Panifious announced that the deputies will not sit this weekend. This angers the left, which accuses the government of organizing the impossibility for the Assembly to decide on the expenditure side of the finance bill.

The vote is scheduled for Monday, November 17, at the end of the day. The government mentions “the fatigue of deputies” and is based on requests for suspension for this weekend brought by deputies from the groups of the central bloc, the right, and the RN.

But if it is true that many complain about poor working conditions, the executive also jumps on this opportunity to try to free itself from a trapped vote. Indeed, if the RN and LFI unite to reject the finance bill – like the Social Security budget moreover – and if, as is likely, all or part of the environmentalist and communist groups also vote against, we do not see a majority emerge in the hemicycle.

Without a vote, the government could therefore proceed by decree, or by special law. There he pays the consequences of the major concession granted to the deputies by Sébastien Lecornu: his renunciation of article 49-3. By refusing to use it, the Prime Minister is forcing not only the central bloc and the right, but also the socialists, to approve the budgetary texts if they want to validate the concessions they have obtained – starting with the suspension of the pension reform. However, this prospect would cost them too much politically.

49-3 is a weapon for a government, but also a protection for oppositions who want to let a text pass without fully approving it. It is less painful to abstain, when tabling a motion of censure, than to have to vote for a budgetary text, which places you in a majority.

But the Socialists pledged last night to “massively” withdraw their amendments to allow the Assembly to vote. Wise resolution, because the real problem is there. In an Assembly without a majority, nor 49-3, and for budgetary debates limited in time by the Constitution, deputies have a duty of responsibility.

For the moment, there is no real accountability. Amendments rain down by the thousands, as do interruptions, points of order and other incidents during the session. So the debates do not come to an end. On Thursday, the hemicycle, for example, spent the afternoon debating France’s contribution to the European budget. The RN and LFI defended a range of Siamese amendments to drastically reduce French participation. All were rejected but the discussions lasted hours, even though this measure is impossible because France cannot renege on a financial commitment made until 2028. All the deputies know this. That didn’t stop them from arguing and slowing down the already bogged down debates a little more.