France: Mass demonstrations against Macron's pension reforms

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Jan 19:55
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The French capital, Paris, is witnessing mass demonstrations in protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.

Protestors in France raise a sign in criticism of President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plan (Social Media)

Mass demonstrations took place in Paris, France, earlier on Saturday, to protest against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms which sought to raise the retirement age to 64 years by 2030.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent to Paris pointed out that "some of the participants in today's demonstrations are young people," adding that "the French government has not yet shown any intention to back down from the plan to raise the retirement age."

Gigantic anti-government protest in Russia.

Oh...wait. This is actually France.

Nothing to see here 🤗 pic.twitter.com/EcjbCbMu93
— sarah (@sahouraxo) January 20, 2023

The correspondent further explained that the strikes are further expected to take place across several Paris sectors this coming Monday as it coincided with the meeting of the French Council of Ministers.

Moreover, among French protestors in Paris, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported, there were criticisms of the French government's support for Kiev at the expense of the rights of retirees.

For the first time in 12 years, unions have overcome their often adversarial relationships and found a common cause as union leaders declared that Thursday will be the "first day of mobilization" demanding the "unfair and unnecessary" pension plans be dropped.

" #Macron on vient te chercher chez toi! "#Marche21Janvier #Paris pic.twitter.com/1CUeeCkE1R
— Laurent pour AB7 Média (@laurentbigfr) January 21, 2023

11 youth organizations and the left-leaning La France Insoumise (LFI) party, which is led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, organized the protest against the pension reform. At 13:00 GMT earlier in the day, the demonstrators marched from the Place de la Bastille in the French capital to the Place de la Nation.

The LFI, the far-left New Anticapitalist Party, and the alliance of left-leaning political groups known as the New Ecological and Social People's Union are all represented by participants waving banners.

Elisabeth Borne, the French prime minister, published a draft of the contentious pension reform earlier in January. The government intends to implement it in 2023. The draft states that starting on September 1, 2023, the French government will gradually raise the retirement age in the nation by three months every year. The retirement age will rise to 64 by 2030.

On Thursday, there were more than 200 protests around the nation, with the biggest ones occurring in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, and Nantes. Nearly 1.12 million people participated in the protest, with 80,000 of them reportedly in Paris alone.