One million one hundred thousand demonstrators according to the Ministry of the Interior, two million according to the general secretary of the CGT Philippe Martinez… and how many National Meeting deputies? While many elected Nupas showed happy faces at the processions on Thursday 19 January, few RN MPs joined the movement. The party does not hide its opposition to a pension reform that Marine Le Pen was still presenting this morning on the microphone of RMC as ” profoundly unfair to the French “, but despite being less fond of the demonstration. On the day of the mobilization, the president of the National Rally group even traveled to Dakar, to meet with the Senegalese president.
” It was a trip planned for several monthsadvances Jérôme Buisson, deputy RN of Ain, who himself went to demonstrate. Marine Le Pen has national and international stature, so it was important for her to go to Senegal. This does not diminish the opposition that you may have against this project. According to an Ifop-Fiducial survey by Sud Radio, 70% of the party’s supporters say they support or sympathize with the movement of strikes and demonstrations promoted by the unions, that is to say, twelve points more than the national average. How long will the RN be able to distance itself from the mobilization?
“Priority” to parliamentary work
” I did not ask myself any questions, because I believe that the demonstration is complementary to my parliamentary work. », explains Jérôme Buisson. The RN deputy adds that his participation in the protest movement is a continuation of his previous commitments, as he had already supported the yellow vest rallies in the processions. If he acknowledges that a certain number of elected officials from his party have not done the same for pensions, he assures that there were, however, no instructions from the National Congress not to go there.
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We stay in our ring: the National Assembly
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The RN’s strategy would simply be to ensure the continuity of the first few months: to appear as credible as possible to establish respectability. ” At the moment, our roadmap is mainly to focus on the parliamentary opposition, which is also one of the reasons why many have not taken to the streets this time.defender Jérôme Buisson. It’s not an escape or a lack of desire to go, as some say, just that parliamentary work is a priority. “A line that the deputy of the North Sébastien Chenu summarizes in a formula:” We stay in our ring: the National Assembly “. A “ring” on which he promises that his group will do everything possible not to give the project a majority.
The RN, less welcome than the other opponents?
Beyond its willingness to undertake its mobilizations, the RN explains that it faces interest groups that are not always welcoming. Among the litany of opponents to the reform, the national rally is undoubtedly the least expected by trade unionists. ” It raises the question of the right time to speak out, as well as the reception we receive from people who, at times, may be hostile to us, or even encourage violence against our elected officials., abounds Julien Odoul, whose gaze is towards the CGT and France Insoumise. For Yonne’s deputy, this fear is reinforced by the fact that his party is regularly the target of unsympathetic chants at rallies.
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Nupas are social traitors
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However, Julien Odoul considers his field particularly legitimate to hit the pavement with the opponents of the reform. ” Nupas are social traitorsaddresses the spokesperson of the Lepenist party. They called to vote for Macron in the second round of the presidential election [La FI, contrairement au PS et à EELV, n’avait pas donné de consigne de vote après une consultation interne, NDLR]. There was, however, one candidate in favor of retirement at 60, and another, who pledged to bring it to 65. Today, they intend to oppose it and exclude those who were opposed from the beginning to this reform. »
The threats of which Julien Odoul and his family consider themselves victims do not prevent them from suggesting that their camp could join more massively in the upcoming rallies on January 31. Meanwhile, RN deputies, led by Sébastien Chenu, were warming up by joining the bakers’ mobilization on Monday. An initiative that the vice-president of the National Assembly justifies for a different situation: ” To help our craftsmen, we ask for the exit from the European electricity market. However, on this issue, there is no debate in Parliament. Since we cannot play our part, this is our battlefield. “In case of forced approval of the majority in pensions, could the “ring” of the RN be extended to the union processions against the reform?
Source : Le JDD
