François de Rugy, at the head of the special commission on this text.

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NICOLAS MESSYASZ

  • The deputies open this Monday the debates in committee on the 51 articles of the bill against separatism, an important text for the majority.

  • Out of more than 1,700 amendments already tabled in committee, several hundred were deemed inadmissible by the special committee.

  • The opposition denounces a "denial of democracy", while the majority defends a "classic procedure".

The debates promise to be explosive.

The deputies began Monday discussions in committee on the 51 articles of the bill against separatism, known as the bill "consolidating respect for the principles of the Republic".

The executive wants to make this text, which aims to fight against radical Islam, a strong marker of the five-year term of Emmanuel Macron.

While awaiting the debates in the hemicycle, scheduled for February 1, 1,878 amendments were tabled in committee.

And the text is already experiencing its first controversy: 286 amendments were deemed "inadmissible" by the special commission headed by former minister François de Rugy.

The opposition cries out for "muzzling Parliament" and "refusal of democratic debate".

What is it really ?

"A real democratic problem"

Many elected officials, left and right, denounced the fact that several amendments tabled on this text were rejected by the committee, even before being debated.

“The majority blocks and rejects our amendments.

Is she unable to argue?

Is she afraid to show her indeterminacy?

This refusal of the democratic debate is worrying ”, thus reacted the deputy Les Républicains du Doubs, Annie Genevard, on Twitter.

The majority chooses to prevent the debate on the real subjects by declaring the amendments on # PJLSparatism inadmissible!

This muzzling of Parliament is scandalous!

# DirectAN @ dnatweets @bleualsace @ F3Alsace @azurfmofficiel @FigaroPolitique @lemondefr @libe pic.twitter.com/LTYC9a6fGB

- Hemedinger Yves (@YvesHemedinger) January 17, 2021

The opposition criticizes a disproportionate use of article 45 of the Constitution, which allows any amendment unrelated to the text of the law to be deemed inadmissible.

“A third of our amendments have already been ruled out of order.

The majority read article 45 very arbitrarily, which poses a real democratic problem, ”blows Eric Coquerel, deputy La France insoumise de Seine-Saint-Denis.

“We are told that this is a law reaffirming republican principles, so we have made proposals reaffirming the principle of equality, against the separatism of the rich, on social inequalities, on school issues, but like this is not in the line of the government, they are discarded, plague the elected LFI.

"All the amendments limiting immigration or defending secularism are declared inadmissible by François de Rugy according to an exceptional procedure worthy of a banana republic", denounces on Twitter the deputy LR of the Maritime Alps Eric Ciotti.

During a press conference this late Tuesday afternoon, the boss of the LR group in the Assembly Damien Abad indicated that 25% of the amendments tabled by the right were deemed inadmissible, including those concerning secularism, denouncing "denial of democracy".

Special PJL separatism conference @damienabad:



“It is a denial of democracy as we have rarely seen in the National Assembly.

Amendments are rejected even though they concern secularism and the very heart of the project ”# Separatism #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/vzW60mZj5G

- Republican MPs (@Republicains_An) January 18, 2021

“Classic procedure”, for the majority

An argument swept aside by the majority.

"This is the classic procedure, moreover 80 amendments by the majority were also rejected," replied LREM deputy from Isère Caroline Abadie, member of the special committee.

“There is a very formal regulation.

It is not President Rugy who decides alone with a wet finger.

It is the administrators who pass each amendment through several filters: is the amendment correct?

Isn't it off topic?

There is a discipline to be had for the bill to keep its consistency, ”she continues.

Article 45 stipulates that "an amendment is admissible on first reading as soon as it has a link, even indirectly, with the text tabled or transmitted".

“The admissibility check covers several points: does the amendment increase expenditure?

Does it fall within the realm of the law?

Does it have a direct relationship with the text?

», Assures Michel Lascombe, researcher and former professor of constitutional law.

“Previously, it was the Constitutional Council that did this admissibility check, but since 2017-2108, it has been done upstream by the committees to avoid debating amendments unrelated to the text for hours.

There is a lot of hypocrisy of the opposition, because on this text, we are statistically in the norm ”, assures the specialist.

François de Rugy indicated that "about 15% of the volume" of the amendments had been retoked, "this is not exceptional", he assured, presenting similar figures for other texts.

Out of 1878 amendments, 286 were declared inadmissible under article 45 of the constitution, ie "about 15% of the volume".


> "There is nothing exceptional about it", explains the chairman of the special committee @ FdeRugy. # DirectAN # PJLPrincipesRépublicains #PJLSeparatisme pic.twitter.com/0toEnrCtK5

- LCP (@LCP) January 18, 2021

According to the

Parisian

, the president of the macronist group in the Assembly Christophe Castaner, however, would have encouraged, during a meeting in Matignon last Wednesday, a strict application of article 45 to avoid "hysterizing" the debates.

The proposal of the macronist Aurore Bergé, which aimed to ban the veil for little girls and risked breaking the majority, was also rejected.

Society

Bill on “separatism”: Opening of the debates in committee on Monday

Society

Bill against separatism: Amendments against the wearing of the veil for girls inadmissible

  • Law Project

  • Separatists

  • Government

  • National Assembly

  • The Republicans (France)