There is something trivial and unhealthy in it

Small problem of opening of Parliament: amendments 137.449 577 deputies how many does leaves to distribute (1)

The guerrillas that opens today in Parliament on the privatization of gas of France project is without precedent under the Fifth Republic. By filing a record number of amendments, the PS and FCP grow the law on the matter to its paroxysm. While institutions are at the heart of the presidential programs of all the candidates, the role of Parliament will come out grew up in the event "The ability of obstruction is part of the parliamentary pathology", philosopher Guy Carcassonne the Professor of public law.

Use copy-and - paste

The technique of the obstruction is not today. After the "Security and freedom" act in 1980, it was much used in the Assembly from 1981 to the nationalizations, in part because of the advances in technology. "It would have been impossible to do so at the time where one wrote amendments to hand, today it is enough to copy and paste to multiply the amendments", explains ironic, Frédéric Rouvillois, Constitutionalist. "There is something trivial and unhealthy in it." The game is a double blessing. "It is that the view follow," warns Guy Carcassonne.

But not issue to the constitutional experts to blame only on institutions or the opposition. "This is not a problem of institutional nature but of a political nature, which occurs because of a fundamental debate, reasonable and mature conditions, are less than ever in the current period", analysis Denys de Béchillon, another Constitutionalist. "It is the Government to properly handle the relations with the Parliament," judge Guy Carcassonne. In fact, all find that time is not in the discussion on a text of this magnitude, bearer of a strong ideological debate, to eight months of the presidential election.

Cyclical or step, the debate is likely to be blocked. The techniques to multiply the amendments are known. Whether the "coconut" that of PS which is to decline the same proposal in a maximum of amendments, proposing for example that of the State in the capital of France gas is "more than 70.1 ", then in a second amendment "over 70.2 ", etc., etc. Another tactic is to make the same amendment by several deputies that FCP , method to multiply the regulatory time of five minutes per amendment.

The vote blocked

To counter the offensive and to avoid the debate extends beyond a reasonable, the Government has little means at its disposal: either the coup with the use of article 49-3 of the Constitution that allows the adoption of a text without a vote, after undertaking the responsibility of the Government. Dominique de Villepin, who has already used this article on PBS, in paid politically expensive price. The alternative, which may not be enough, is to make lace, in declaring inadmissible amendments part as the regulatory domain and non-legislative.

The last solution is the block vote. What proposes Jean-Louis Debré: the Government asked the National Assembly to rule on all or part of the text using that amendments proposed or accepted by him. Like the others in this case each are primer political logic on parliamentary logic.