Pensions, live: the reform adopted after the rejection of the two motions of censure, rallies in Paris and in several large cities

The request for a shared initiative referendum (RIP), initiated by the left to challenge the pension reform, was submitted to the Constitutional Council on Monday, reported the institution, which will first examine its admissibility. Some 250 parliamentarians, deputies and senators, mainly from the left, have tabled it, while the reform has just been adopted in Parliament.

The Constitutional Council must verify its admissibility. The collection of citizen signatures could then begin, in an attempt to reach one tenth of voters, or 4.87 million signatures, within nine months, to pave the way for a referendum.

As a reminder, the organization of a referendum of shared initiative (RIP) is constrained in time. The RIP is a Law proposition which makes it possible to organize a popular consultation. It must first be co-signed by at least a fifth of the members of Parliament, ie 185 deputies and senators, which the left seems to be claiming.

But where the process gets complicated is that the RIP cannot relate to the repeal of a legislative provision that has been in force for less than a year. The pension reform being adopted, the Constitutional Council can be seized by parliamentarians, having thirty days (or eight days if the government invokes urgency) to examine the text. The National Rally thus announced to seize it on Tuesday. However, this same Constitutional Council has the same time to validate the RIP proposal, after checking the number of applicants and the subject of the bill.

If the Constitutional Council validates the text of the RIP before the law on pension reform is promulgated, it then entrusts the organization of the collection of support to the Ministry of the Interior within nine months. If at least 10% of voters support this proposal, it must be examined in the National Assembly and the Senate, and if not submitted to a referendum by the President of the Republic.