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Headlines: a weakened executive

Doubly weakened even ... The government must face a massive strike this Tuesday, December 17, against the pension reform and at the same time, it is deprived of the key man of its reform, namely Jean-Paul Delevoye, who resigned yesterday after successive revelations about his "oversights" in his declaration of interest.

Liberation does not mince its words: “ this affair casts a shadow on the 'government of the best' supposed to implement the reforming know-how of the Macronians. Thus there was not, within this areopagus of egg heads, a single person in charge to warn the high commissioner of the risks which he took while continuing to be remunerated whereas he became minister. It was enough, reads Liberation, to re-read the Constitution. The doubt, moreover, now extends to the project itself, continues the newspaper. With each step, we discover a new problem, a new trap, a new trap. At each stage, it is necessary to specify, clear, clear up, correct, patch up. We understand that many employees, not having the encyclopedia know Jean-Paul Delevoye, express their concern in the street, as they will do this Tuesday. "

And Liberation to carry the blow: " the macronists do not have words hard enough for the professionals of the policy which dominated the old world. We can see what has happened since we replaced them with amateurs. "

" What a waste of time , sighs Paris-Normandy , when there is nevertheless an urgency to get out of a hard social conflict and which, with the approach of the end-of-year holidays, makes us fear a monster mess. The case in any case reveals once again the inability of our political leaders to take a quick decision which would avoid the stagnation and the crystallization of grumbling. (…) By delaying to settle the Delevoye case, the Norman daily newspaper still points out, the government has therefore weakened in the face of a trade union front which today intends to demonstrate its solidity. "

"Let him go with his reform! "

" So this is the government relieved of a burden , note The Latest News from Alsace. But also, at the same time, deprived of one of its main assets. Because if the former minister of Jacques Chirac does not know well the list of his mandates and the amount of his income, he does however know by heart the codicils of the pension reform, masters like nobody the trade union subtleties and has an innate gift for negotiation. This science will be sorely lacking when only the arm wrestling begins. While everything will be played out. "

Indeed, adds La Croix , " The High Commissioner for Pensions was indeed at fault. It is normal for him to suffer consequences. (…) But, at the same time , the Catholic daily points out, “ we have the right to question the brutality of political life which results in discrediting a man who has accomplished his mission of preparing pension reform in a spirit of unanimously recognized loyalty. It will be recalled in particular that in September, he had the guts to go to the Fête de L'Humanité for a public debate with the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez. In reality, in this case, believes La Croix, it is not the oversights of Jean-Paul Delevoye that have been the engine of the revelations of recent days; it is the will to strike a blow at pension reform. What sums up very well the formula used by Manon Aubry (from La France rebellious): 'Let him go with his reform'. "

Finally, “ everyone is the loser, deplores La Charente Libre. Even political opponents draped in their traditional cries of victory when an opponent withdraws. This is also the case for pensions, a good part of the future of which will be played out on Tuesday: in a very tense context, the inevitable loss of a Delevoye reduces the scope of a social dialogue already in ruins. Because the unions recognized in their interlocutor a 'man of dialogue' (for FO) and 'loyal' (for the CFDT). His emergency designated successor will have a much more vertical roadmap. "

Tuesday's strike will weigh heavily in the balance

For L'Humanité , the essentials must not be forgotten ... " The architect of the pension reform is only the twelfth of a list of ministers who have resigned since the presidential election, the majority of whom are suspected of money business. But his fall does not mean the disappearance of his project, of much greater consequence for the employees than his undue or forgotten remuneration. (…) The day of action today will weigh heavily in the balance, warns L'Humanité , much more than a resignation, so that Emmanuel Macron's obstinacy in breaking the right to pensions does not disturb Christmas. "

Indeed, notes Le Figaro , " the unions will be on the street this Tuesday to bend the executive. "But this observation is the only point of agreement with L'Humanité ... And the daily on the right to raise the tone:" in distress since the crisis of "yellow vests", the left and the unions see in pension reform a windfall to take their revenge. Whatever their differences, they dream of fighting it out with Emmanuel Macron. The next events will measure their strengths. No doubt they can count on the usual battalions of the public service. But perhaps not on the other France, that of the private sector, which is undergoing the strike and which has so far been very discreet in the parades. "

So, “ the standoff continues. (…) Remains a reality , notes L'Est Républicain. At one point or another, it will have to go through the negotiation box. The government is waiting and fed up with public opinion. But experience has proven it, a strike in transport can last. Until when ? (…) Toussaint's holidays had been spoiled by a surprise move, those at the end of the year could suffer the same fate. A painful mania. In this period when the party lights are already shining, nobody seems indeed ready to give gifts. "