An Act II in the fall had been announced. Emmanuel Macron wrote to the various leaders of French political parties to invite them to a new meeting in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) on November 17.
The first meeting was held at the end of August until very late at night. Eleven participants gathered around the table from as many parties represented in Parliament (LR, PS, LFI, RN, PC, EELV, Renaissance, MoDem, etc.) to talk for twelve hours about the international situation, institutions and the “cohesion of the Nation” after the riots at the beginning of the summer. If it had left the opposition skeptical, it ended with the prospect of a new meeting.
Expanding the referendum to “social issues”
In the missive written Friday and received this Sunday evening by the leaders of the parties represented in the Assembly, the President of the Republic mentions several subjects concerning this new meeting. Among them, he proposes broadening the scope of the referendum to “social questions”.
“It would involve both taking up bills relating to so-called societal issues such as the end of life sometimes mentioned, but also broader reforms affecting several intertwined aspects, as is the case with migration issues which relate to sovereign, economic, social or even diplomatic matters.”
Lower the RIP threshold to one million voters
This would involve modifying the Constitution in its article 11 which would change in depth.
Emmanuel Macron also proposes lowering the threshold to one million voters, compared to nearly 5 million currently, to allow the organization of a shared initiative referendum (RIP).
He suggests also lowering the number of parliamentarians required (93 against 185) and “also giving citizens the opportunity to take the initiative” of this RIP, “while today only parliamentarians can launch the procedure” . Introduced in a constitutional reform in 2008, no RIP has yet been successful.
An update on the war between Israel and Hamas
“The context seems to me to impose a point on the international situation,” he writes elsewhere, in allusion to the conflict between Israel and Hamas after the bloody attacks of October 7. The various party leaders had already discussed the situation in the Middle East with the president on October 12.
In the wake of the last meeting, “I wanted to entrust a mission relating to decentralization to the former minister and deputy Eric Woerth in order to formulate avenues for reform which could respond to the objectives shared together (simplify, clarify, make more effective and restore the confidence of our fellow citizens,” the president also announced.
Last point of reflection put forward by the Head of State, the case of “Corsica, New Caledonia and more generally overseas”.
Among all the subjects, nothing was said about environmental and social justice issues, lamented Marine Tondelier, the national secretary of EELV.
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