Eric Ciotti says he is ready to “vote for a fair reform” of pensions – RT in French

The head of LR Eric Ciotti says he is ready to “vote for a just reform” of pensions, throwing open the doors to the project which will be presented by the executive on 10 January. A position that satisfies the government and unsurprisingly the opposition.

“The budgetary, demographic and economic situation requires this reform”: in the columns of Sunday newspaper on 8 January the president of the republicans (LR) Eric Ciotti announced his intention to vote for a “fair reform” of pensions, while the government must propose its – controversial – project on the matter on 10 January.

“Politically, the right-wing government has always supported the need for a pension reform that leads to a little more work”, added the deputy from the Maritime Alps, believing that the vote was “a question of coherence and responsibility”.

Aware of the unpopularity of the reform – for which his group in the National Assembly could vote, thus avoiding the head of government from resorting for the umpteenth time to the constitutional weapon of 49.3 -, Eric Ciotti stated in his interview with JDD having asked the prime minister to “tone down the brutality”. According to him, it must “spread over two five-year terms”, with an increase in the legal starting age to 63 in 2027 and then to 64 in 2032. This is what Elisabeth Borne could announce on January 10, after weighing up the postponement to 65 years.

The minimum pension of 1,200 euros programmed by the executive must apply to new entries and also “retroactively to current retirees who benefit from the most modest pensions”, which will be “one of the conditions of our vote”, argued the right-wing leader – wing party, which thinks it was heard by Elisabeth Borne.

Attal satisfied, the opposition was waiting for him

It is no coincidence that the Minister for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, said he was satisfied with the evolution of events. “I pay tribute to the responsibility of all those who are ready to seek a solution to allow our pension system to continue,” he told France 3.

On the part of the opposition, this rapprochement of LR with the presidential majority – numerically a minority in the Assembly against all the opposition – on such a delicate issue is anything but a surprise. “Emmanuel Macron’s compass on pensions is called Eric Ciotti… It is both the lowering of the legal age and the increase in the contribution period”, observed the first secretary of the PSI. . Olivier Faure, commenting on the first page of the JDD.

EELV National Secretary Marine Tondelier hinted that the term “right” in the mouth of the LR chief probably didn’t have the same meaning as it did for his party. “Verdict in a few weeks! “, she launched her.

“LR is about to sell out to Macron by voting for pension reform! Ciotti’s confirmation this morning. We are not surprised: betrayal is their only DNA! Voters will not forget them and make them disappear! For his part, reprimanded the president of the Patriots Florian Philippot.

Witnessing the unpopularity of the reform, 79% of French people would be “viscerally” opposed to a postponement of the legal retirement age, confided Stéphane Zumsteeg, director of the policy and opinion department of the Ipsos polling institute on the set of BFM TV on January 7th. .

But according to him, the French being “apathetic” and “resigned”, the population would not be willing to support social movements that could be harsh and lead to blockages in public services.