Paris (AFP)

A possible recourse by the government to article 49-3, which allows adoption without a vote, for the pension reform would be "delirium", commented Friday the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, on Radio Classique.

"If there is 49-3, it's delirium," said Laurent Berger, adding that "49-3 on this type of reform in the current climate is catastrophic".

"The procedure must go to its end," said the CFDT leader, who said however that "he did not hear the idea that it would go through the 49-3".

The question of the use of this method appears while the group La France insoumise (LFI) assumes a tactic of parliamentary obstruction after having tabled some 19,000 amendments, of which only a small part could have been examined in committee before the opening of the debate in the hemicycle on Monday.

Article 49 paragraph 3 allows the Prime Minister to engage the responsibility of the government before the National Assembly on a text of law. The bill is then considered to have been adopted without a vote, except a motion of censure voted by the Assembly.

Also questioned on Radio Classique, the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, indicated that "what is important is the democratic debate" and accused the rebellious France of "blocking democracy" and "undermining its proper functioning ".

On France Inter, the Minister of Solidarity, Agnès Buzyn, assured that, "for the moment", the government was not planning to use 49-3.

"The objective of this reform is for it to be discussed and enriched," she said, adding: "We need this time for dialogue, it will take place in the National Assembly".

© 2020 AFP