New restrictions in France: Jean Castex suffers the wrath of parliamentarians
Prime Minister Jean Castex in front of the National Assembly, April 1, 2021. AP - Michel Euler
Text by: RFI Follow
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Prime Minister Jean Castex vigorously defended the new restrictions against the third wave of Covid-19 on Thursday, before a stormy Assembly and then a more measured Senate, but where the opposition also largely boycotted the final vote.
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Mission accomplished.
But how long the day was for Jean Castex.
And the bitter victory.
Mandated by Emmanuel Macron to go and have Parliament vote on the
new health measures
announced the day before on television, the Prime Minister faced particularly strong opposition.
No alcohol on the public road, help for modest families deprived of school canteens, maintenance of competitive examinations in higher education and travel allowed to accompany children to their grandparents: the deputies approved the new restrictions by 348 votes against 9 ( out of 577 deputies), and the senators by 39 votes against 2. Only 45 senators took part in the vote out of 348.
Massive boycott
These votes were thus marked by a massive boycott of oppositions on the right (LR) as well as on the left (LFI, PS, PCF) to denounce a “
trampling of Parliament
” called upon to vote on measures already taken by the executive.
"
You take the parliamentary chambers for a doormat
", denounced the leader of the PS senators Patrick Kanner, when his counterpart LR Bruno Retailleau denounced a Parliament "
taken hostage
".
“
You want Parliament to be a sort of foil.
Well the Senate is not the foil of the executive,
”he reiterated, echoing the comments made a few hours earlier in the National Assembly.
"
We are tired of seeing the Assembly excluded from the discussion on the strategy to be implemented against the pandemic
", thundered Jean-Luc Mélenchon on behalf of the LFI deputies.
The leader of the right-wing deputies Damien Abad also denounced the trampling of Parliament, annoyed at having once again been summoned urgently: "
Parliament is not a registration chamber, nor an assembly of commentators, spectator of what is said and decided at the Élysée.
"
"
An opposition without proposal, it is only a movement of humor
", cracked the Minister of Health Olivier Véran.
National union is over.
After a year of health crisis, the divorce is consumed between the executive and the opposition.
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France
French politics
Coronavirus
Jean Castex