In a hemicycle already heated by the examination of the pension reform for a week, the insults launched by Aurélien Saintoul, deputy of La France insoumise (LFI), against Olivier Dussopt, shocked. The “rebellious” elected official accused the Minister of Labor of being an “impostor” and an “assassin”, in the midst of discussions around the bill, Monday, February 13, immediately causing a suspension of the session and attracting the reprobation of all the benches of the hemicycle. Mr. Saintoul then sent an apology to the minister, who accepted it, before discussions resumed.
“A few moments ago I had words at this microphone that emotion and anger made me choose poorly and which are out of place. I obviously wish to withdraw them and address a public apology to the minister and I am at his disposal to have a more personal exchange and to apologize to him again, “said Aurélien Saintoul.
After having rejoined the hemicycle which he had left under the influence of emotion at the suspension of the session, Olivier Dussopt accepted these apologies but let it be known that he did not “forgive” the insults pronounced by Mr. Saintoul against him . “I hear your apologies, but you will understand that being called a murderer cannot be forgiven. On the other hand, these apologies have one merit: they allow the debate to continue, and that is my only wish,” he said. The deputy of La France insoumise was sanctioned with a call to order with entry in the minutes, i.e. the withdrawal of a quarter of his parliamentary allowance for one month.
Two incidents in one week in the “rebellious” ranks
Aurélien Saintoul made these remarks at the beginning of the evening, in the middle of the discussions around article 2 of the pension reform project, relating to the “senior index” device, after having reproached the Minister of Labor for having “lied” on the number of deaths in accidents at work. At the start of the session, Mr. Dussopt had declared that there were “650 deaths per year at work, a relatively stable figure. Every death is one death too many.”
Mr. Saintoul mentioned increasing figures, with “150 widowers and orphans” in addition, in a first interpellation:
“The reality is that you have abolished the CHSCT [health, safety and working conditions committee] and since this abolition, on average, there have been 150 more deaths at work per year. If you had a conscience, which I doubt, you would have 150 deaths on your conscience. The reality is that there is blood on your politics and you don’t care. The reality is that you are violent beings because you have chosen class violence. »
The LFI deputy then denounced in a second speech Olivier Dussopt’s “felony” and said: “So you can’t come here and tell me that the abolition of the CHSCTs had no effect. These are 150 more orphans, widowers and widowers. You are responsible for these political choices. You are an impostor and an assassin. »
Disapproval of all deputies
Immediately after his declaration, cries of disapproval resounded in the hemicycle, before the session was suspended. Several deputies from the majority, from the right, from the far right but also from parties allied to LFI within the Nupes, immediately condemned this exit of the “rebellious” elected official.
“Treating the minister as an assassin is not possible, it is no longer possible,” said MP MoDem Erwan Balanant at the microphone of LCP, saying he was “shocked” by the content of Mr. Saintoul’s remarks. The latter demanded an apology from the deputy, believing otherwise that “it will be necessary to take sanctions again” against a “rebellious” deputy.
The outcry caused by Mr. Saintoul’s remarks indeed closely follows the controversy sparked by his colleague Thomas Portes (LFI) last week, after the latter was excluded from the Assembly for a fortnight for a controversial tweet about the Minister du travail, Olivier Dussopt, where he photographed himself, his foot on a ball bearing the image of the Minister of Labour. Mr Portes has since refused to apologize in the Chamber.
“I hope there will be a sanction”, for his part declared the president of the group Les Républicains (LR) Olivier Marleix from the Salle des Quatre-Colonnes, believing that “apologies will not be enough”, denouncing “the disproportion that this debate takes” and the “violence” of the remarks of the deputy Saintoul.
“An escalation of verbal violence” deemed “unacceptable”
At the resumption of the session, the various group presidents expressed their indignation at the words of the LFI deputy and jointly displayed their solidarity with the Minister of Labor in the face of these insults.
“It is unacceptable that we continue in this escalation of verbal violence,” said Aurore Bergé, leader of the Renaissance group, asking for “clear and sincere apologies (…) apologies, period”. “This verbal escalation has perhaps reached its peak today,” also lamented the president of the RN group, Marine Le Pen.
“I appeal to the serenity and control of each and everyone”, for his part urged the president of the socialist group, Boris Vallaud, when the president of the communist group André Chassaigne said he was “shocked, hurt and humiliated” by the remarks made by the deputy member of LFI. “To say such things is absolutely unacceptable. (…) The democratic debate is a debate of ideas, it is not an exchange of insults, ”said the deputy.
The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, reacted on Twitter by supporting Olivier Dussopt and stressing that “the National Assembly must be the place of debate, not that of insults”. “Those who insult are not up to the French who elected them or the democratic debate they expect,” she denounced.
In 2021, there were 645 deaths recognized in accidents at work, according to Health Insurance, 88 less than in 2019. work).
