Paris (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron can keep a bitter memory of the 49-3, drawn on Saturday for the pension reform: under the Holland five-year term, Manuel Valls had imposed this constitutional weapon on the then Minister of Economy to pass his growth law.

After twelve days of debate, the National Assembly had come to the end of some 300 articles of the bill, of which Richard Ferrand, then of the left wing of the PS, was the general rapporteur.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 in the morning, the 30 to 40 socialists "slingers", led by Christian Paul and Laurent Baumel, announce that they will mainly vote against this text ranging from the extension of Sunday work to the liberalization of coach transport .

The few voices of centrists or very rare UMPs (now LR) may not be enough to vote at first reading this emblematic bill of the reformist line of the executive. The abstentions of certain right-wing elected officials, put forward by the cabinet of Emmanuel Macron, are not "reliable", we also judge in Matignon.

"As I speak the text does not pass," said shortly after the head of government in front of the PS deputies gathered in camera. A Council of Ministers is urgently convened at the Elysée Palace at 2:30 p.m., nothing of which filters.

Manuel Valls, serious mine, still leaves doubt during the session of questions to the government. "The government will do everything to get this law passed because it is useful for the country," he hammered in response to the boss of UMP deputies Christian Jacob accusing him of resorting to 49-3 in "the emergency and the panic".

During the break before the supposed voting session, we count and count. There were even three counts to be compared: that of the PS group, that of Matignon, and that of Emmanuel Macron's cabinet.

"There, there is an assumption that it goes from 5-6 votes, but in a hyper ideal configuration, without accident. However, 2-3 accidents during a vote it very quickly happened. So we say that we don't take the risk, "said a former ministerial adviser to AFP. "And before us, Valls calls the president and requests authorization" to engage the responsibility of the government.

- "Act of authority" -

The Matignon tenant announces in the gallery the use of 49-3, the nose and beard of Emmanuel Macron, who hoped to pass "his" law by his sole force of conviction.

"The reality is that Macron was in the minority, but also because of people (slingers) who used detestable methods, gauchos," said a former member of the Valls government.

The constitutional tool allowing a passage in force amplified the divisive image of the young minister. It will be used again twice, until the final adoption in July 2015 of its law "for activity, growth and equal economic opportunity".

Manuel Valls then defended himself before journalists to have imposed the 49-3 to tackle Emmanuel Macron, with growing popularity. It is by no means "a pleasure to hire a 49-3" but "it is also an act of authority and made it possible to explain to Emmanuel Macron who said that he was the best minister in the world, that in the end there is no majority ", recognizes a former adviser. "It also made it possible to say + my guy stays in your place +".

The episode left "an indelible mark", judges a deputy LREM. "The Valls effect is ultra important": to draw it is synonymous with "violence, brutality".

© 2020 AFP