French government wants to push through new labor law by decree

Prime minister valls once again invokes article 49.3 to prevent a more serious crisis

Labor law remains a difficult ie for french social democrats. According to the ps government, it was supposed to get the economy moving, encourage companies to hire more people by reducing redundancy hurdles and making the rules of the statutory 35-hour week more flexible. But it has become a project that is putting the brakes on the political careers of president hollande and prime minister valls.

Resistance is unpredictable. According to the interior ministry, 30,000 people demonstrated today against the law.000 against the law. This may not be as spectacular as "hundreds of thousands", but it was already the twelfth day of action. Besides, it’s summer, the tour de france is on, and the young people’s attention was focused on the baccalaureate results today.

The country’s political leaders are aware that the labor law has long been the source of opposition to the government that goes beyond the mere text of the law. Keyword "nuit debout"a social discussion about democracy and the current system has started, in which writers and others from the cultural milieu are increasingly getting involved.

This may not be as important for many as it was a decade ago, and the cultural milieu, which means paris in particular, no longer has the influence it once did, but for the left "the left" it is important. There are regular voters. Many young people and workers have turned to the fn.

Prime minister valls was disgruntled during today’s parliamentary debate on the labor law. He "geibelte" the opposition to the law, reports le monde. He criticized an alliance of the conservatives and the inflexibles, pointing to more than 800 additions that had been made to the law, to the fact that the maximum compromise had been sought and that he knew he would not succeed with this argumentation.

Valls’ problem is the group of deputies in his party who are among the staunch opponents of the law. A vote on the second reading of the labor code could lead to a debacle. So he announced that he would again resort to article 49.3 of the constitution to push the law through without a parliamentary vote. The move surprised no one; it is held against valls and hollande as a sign that they have little respect for parliamentary democracy. This at a time when the democratic system is being debated anew, even in france.

The opposition to the law within the ruling party must now find enough signatories to pass a so-called motion de censure which could stop the law. However, opponents risk expulsion from the party, it was announced. Now many expect valls, as well as hollande, to get the receipt in the selection of the presidential candidate.