Paris (AFP)

The Senate, with a right-wing majority, should decide to bring the extension of the state of health emergency back to the end of April, and not the beginning of June as voted on Wednesday by the National Assembly, estimated Thursday the president (LR) of the upper chamber Gérard Larcher.

Pleading on franceinfo for a "control of parliament", he argued that an emergency law constitutes an "exorbitant" prerogative: "we are reducing freedoms; for example today there is no cultural freedom, to move in a certain number of conditions could be restricted ", he noted.

"So I think that in the Senate the idea of ​​going until June 1 will probably be reduced to the usual two and a half months so that each time the government comes back to parliament and that each time we discuss the timeliness of the emergency, ”he explained.

"The end of April and the two and a half months of rhythm seem important to us," he insisted.

The text extending the state of health emergency, to which the Assembly gave its green light on Wednesday despite opposition from left and right, will be on the menu of the Senate at first reading on Wednesday, with a view to final adoption. before February 16, the current date of the end of application of the measure.

Asked also about the risk of seeing the regional and departmental elections, already postponed from March to June due to the health crisis, to be postponed a second time after the presidential election of 2022, Mr. Larcher considered that this would pose "problems major constitutional ":" it will be necessary that the Constitutional Council gives its feeling because the postponement of a year and a half of a departmental election would be a great first ".

While it will be necessary to "examine the proportionality between the health of our fellow citizens and the exercise of democracy", and if the Constitution could certainly not foresee the Covid crisis, it nevertheless provides "in the fundamental principles of the preamble for democracy, and democracy is a principle on which we must not compromise, "argued the President of the Senate.

He specified that the senators will support the holding of the poll on June 13 and 20, noting that Portugal will organize its presidential election at the end of January and certain German Länder regional elections.

© 2021 AFP