President Emmanuel Macron pushed through a pension reform that was met with vehement opposition from employees and some lawmakers, and the French administration narrowly avoided two votes of no-confidence in the legislature.
Angered by Macron’s decision last week to forgo parliament and raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by utilizing unique constitutional powers, legislators introduced the resolutions on Monday.
A first proposal from a coalition of parties was defeated by nine votes, while a second motion from the far right was soundly defeated by the 577-seat National Assembly. Both votes having been rejected, the pension adjustment is now seen as being approved. It will now be reviewed by the Constitutional Court and might become into law soon.
Several left-wing MPs demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne immediately after the first vote’s close outcome.
The administration and its reform may be overthrown with just nine votes, according to hard-left lawmaker Mathilde Panot. “In the view of the French, the government is already extinct. It is no longer regarded as legitimate.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right, announced that her party would ask the Constitutional Council to review the measure on Tuesday and perhaps toss it out.
As France’s population ages, Macron claims the pension reform is necessary to prevent the system from going into deficit.
The reform’s detractors, however, contend that it unfairly burdens low-income individuals, women, and those who work physically demanding jobs. Two-thirds of French people are opposed to the revisions, according to polls that have been conducted repeatedly.
The law has been met with widespread opposition in the streets. The French workforce has been demonstrating for weeks and has vowed to keep up the pressure on the government until it repeals the law.
The political struggle is still ongoing.
There is a strong feeling of social unrest and dissatisfaction with the government, and some people are quite frustrated because they believe the administration is out of touch with their issues.
The atmosphere was similar to that of a wave of protests that started in late 2018. The so-called Yellow Vests, identified by the safety vests they wore, organized a protest back then against Macron’s other proposed policies, the rising cost of living, and economic inequality. They also protested against a plan to raise fuel taxes, which was later dropped.
On the fifteenth day of a collectors strike, trash is reeking across Paris as it builds up increasingly higher. The three primary incinerators that serve the French city, as well as a rubbish sorting facility northwest of Paris, have been largely shut down. Also, a few refineries that serve gas stations are at least partially shut down.
At Napoleon’s ultimate burial place, Les Invalides, hundreds of protestors, mostly young people, gathered on Monday to voice their opposition to pension reform. Although several trash cans were set on fire, the protest as a whole was peaceful. Attendees heard a channel broadcast over loudspeakers from a union van that covered the National Assembly’s sessions.
“The purpose is to support the workers on strike in Paris,… to put pressure on this administration, which wants to adopt this unjust, violent, wasteful, and ineffectual bill,” said Kamel Brahmi of the left-leaning CGT union while addressing workers at the Romainville sorting facility through a bullhorn.
On Thursday, additional nationwide rallies have been organized by unions in response to their demand that the government reverse the pension modifications.
France is experiencing a “serious political and social crisis,” according to political analyst Francoise Gere of the French Strategic Analysis Center.
A deep and serious crisis is developing, Gere warned. “It’s the beginning of a new form of political crisis, a combination of more frequent street demonstrations and strikes, which hurt the economy of the country more and more.
This government’s lack of credibility is the key issue, according to Gere. Macron will need to confront the legitimacy crisis, it has been said.
