Prime Minister Jean Castex defended on Thursday before the deputies, then the senators, the new measures against the coronavirus epidemic.

And was angry with the opposition in the Assembly, which had largely boycotted the vote and castigated the government's handling of the crisis. 

Discussions were heated, both at the Palais Bourbon and that of Luxembourg.

Thursday, Jean Castex defended before the deputies, then the senators, the new restrictions adopted against the third wave of the coronavirus epidemic.

But faced with an opposition very raised against the executive, and which moreover largely boycotted the final vote, the Prime Minister went out of its hinges, lambasting what he considers to be a double speech on the part of his opponents.  

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Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Thursday April 1

"I heard from many speakers the idea that, ultimately, they (these measures) would be too late, insufficient ... But what was the music of these interventions? 'The shops, do not close them', ' ski resorts, don't close them ',' universities, reopen them ',' public and cultural establishments, 'reopen them.' I've been hearing that for weeks, and today here we are. would be too soft, too late, it's great, "quipped the host of Matignon at the Assembly. 

A broad boycott of the vote

Throughout the session, the opposition, from all sides, fired red balls on the executive.

From the first minutes of the Prime Minister's intervention, boos resounded on the right and on the left of the hemicycle, and all the groups decided to boycott the vote denouncing a "masquerade", like the leader of France rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon. 

"A bad April Fool's Day", "a masquerade", "a sham" ...



The oppositions boycotted the vote on the health situation.

A decision regretted by @JeanCASTEX who answered them.

The main part of the debates.

>> https://t.co/tZFOW9lUfs#COVID19#Confinement3#DirectANpic.twitter.com/KMlU5Idg9S

- LCP (@LCP) April 1, 2021

"It's a bad April Fool's Day, and April Fool's Day, like all fish, rots through the head," he chanted.

"We refuse to vote! We are not your audience dedicated to cheering you. We are tired of seeing the Assembly excluded from the discussion on the strategy to be implemented against the pandemic", added the fourth man of the last presidential election. 

The vaccination campaign?

"A sanitary berezina"

On the platform, the boss of deputies LR Damien Abad also crushed the management of the crisis by the executive and denounced a "parody" of democracy.

"The truth is that you have been overwhelmed by this epidemic, that the virus is advancing faster than vaccination," he said, attacking with force the vaccination campaign, too slow.

"Your vaccination strategy is no longer a lost bet, but a health berezina".

For her part, the president of the National Rally Marine Le Pen voted against the measures, deeming "unworthy" that the government seeks to "dilute" its responsibility.

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The new restrictive measures were however largely approved by the Assembly, thanks to the majority which united behind the Prime Minister during these passes of arms in the hemicycle.

Transpartisan press conference in the Senate

Dominated by the right-wing opposition, the Senate also massively boycotted the vote, but the measures were nevertheless approved by 39 votes for and two against.

Only 45 senators out of 348 took part in the vote, for a total of 41 votes cast. 

During a cross-party press conference, the senators sounded the alarm on the management of the crisis by the executive.

"The macronie is an inverted pyramid which rests on the point", lamented the leader of the senators PS Patrick Kanner.

"We know how to come together when we see that democracy is under attack," added the president of the predominantly communist CRCE group Eliane Assassi. 

"It is a democratic alert. We can not continue like that", added the president of the centrist group Hervé Marseille, who in the hemicycle had, however, enacted "health measures" going "in the right direction".

In the hemicycle, the leader of environmental senators Guillaume Gontard also lambasted "a sham of democracy" and "a presidential monarchy".