Melenchon to pass vote of no confidence over pension reform

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Mar 2023 23:49

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, likewise announced this intention.

Member of the leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) party Jean-Luc Melenchon, centre, attends a rally to protest against the French President's pension reform, in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023 (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

France's Jean-Luc Melenchon, the founder and leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise, said on Thursday that the pension reform which President Emmanuel Macron recently ratified without a vote from parliament is null and void as it lacks support from both lawmakers and citizens.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the law extending the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years old was adopted by the government without a vote in the parliament.

"It [the reform] was adopted ... only by the Senate. Neither by the French people, nor by the National Assembly, nor by trade unions, nor by other associations of workers. As a result, this act has no legal force," Melenchon told reporters.

He further announced that he intends to pass a vote of no confidence in the government. Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, likewise announced this intention.

The pension reform bill being championed by the government in France is aimed at balancing the country's pension financial system without having to raise taxes, government spokesperson Olivier Veran said earlier Wednesday.

The bill provides for gradually increasing the national retirement age from 62 to 64 years and canceling special regimes for numerous professions that require hard labor, drawing the ire of the French people and sparking a wave of demonstrations that took France by storm.

"Why are we carrying out this [pension] reform? In order to keep out distributive [pension] system, not to raise taxes, not to decrease pensions and increase debt. All we do is aimed at that. We stick to this aim and keep it," Veran told French radio station Europe 1.

Furthermore, the government spokesperson stressed that the retirement age was being raised so that Paris could "look the French people in the eye in five, 10, 15 years" and tell them their pension contributions and the pension system would guarantee them "decent income" in retirement.

Veran also underlined that adopting the pension reform would ensure the country's financial balance by 2030 "without a shadow of doubt".