Jacques Serais, edited by Romain Rouillard 8:06 p.m., March 13, 2023

After the meeting of the joint committee to be held on Wednesday, the pension reform will make its big comeback to the Assembly.

And if the executive does not retain the option of 49.3, the text will be submitted to the vote of the deputies.

The government is therefore working to collect the necessary votes to have the reform adopted.

"I think the conditions are met so that we don't lack votes".

This sentence, pronounced by Olivier Véran, spokesperson for the government, reflects the will of the executive, two days after the adoption of the pension reform by the Senate.

Rather than resorting to 49.3 to have the text adopted, the government seems to favor the hunt for votes in order to gather an absolute majority at the time of the vote in the Assembly. 

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This Monday, Elisabeth Borne received the parliamentarians who will make up the joint joint committee.

This body, made up of seven deputies and as many senators, will be responsible for bringing about an agreement on a common text on Wednesday before the bill returns to the National Assembly on Thursday.

And three days before the deadline, the Prime Minister still does not have the slightest certainty of seeing an absolute majority emerge.

For the head of government, it is therefore a question of getting the votes one by one. 

The pressure on Republicans' shoulders

The Macronist deputies have also been entrusted with a mission: to convince the right-wing elected officials who are still hesitant.

On the side of the Élysée, the message is identical and, extremely rare, Emmanuel Macron himself was invited this Monday to a coordination meeting of the executives of the presidential party.

"We must appeal to the responsibility of the oppositions which could vote for the reform", he told them. 

If they are not directly quoted, the Republicans are naturally the main targets of this presidential statement.

One way to put pressure on them while the extension of the contribution period was in the program of the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse. 

Whether he obtains a majority or not, the Head of State still seems as determined to enforce his reform.

"It is an absolute necessity for the financing of our pensions and the solidity of the country", he warned.

But in the event that the hunt for votes proves unsuccessful, the executive will probably have to resolve to activate 49.3.