Protestors swarm Paris after Constitutional Council approves pension
3 Min Read
Macron is expected to sign the bill within the next 48 hours. This decision counts as Macron's victory during his second term as president.
-
French gendarmes during a demonstration in front of the Paris City Hall in Paris, France, on April 14, 2023 (Reuters)
According to RIA Novosti, hundreds gathered in front of the Paris City Hall on Friday after the French Constitutional Council approved the pension reform set by President Emmanuel Macron.
Flares were fired and loudspeakers echoed the words: "Rise up, Paris!" and "We're here; the decision is ours!" as battle songs were sung by the crowds.
Sandrine, a retired woman, told RIA Novosti: "This is horrible! [French President Emmanuel] Macron needs to go, he does not stand up for the interests of France. It's the EU that made him push through this pension reform. We need our Frexit [similar to the United Kingdom's Brexit], we need to get our independence back."
Read next: Over 60% of French believe Macron getting more authoritarian: Poll
The protests took place a mere hour after the French Constitutional Council approved the key article, Article 49.3 of the constitution, of the pension reform bill, to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years by the year 2030.
French major union General Confederation of Labor (CGT) said on Friday that The French trade unions will not meet with government officials regarding the pension reform before May 1.
"The trade unions took note that for three months the president of the republic did not consider it necessary to hold a meeting in order to find ways out of the crisis … Therefore, they decided, being committed to high-quality social dialogue, not to agree to a meeting with government officials until May 1," CGT tweeted.
Cleansing of protesters in Paris continues pic.twitter.com/pC5udcAh77
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) April 14, 2023
With that considered, Macron is expected to sign the bill within the next 48 hours. This decision counts as Macron's victory during his second term as president.
On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the adoption of the law extending the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years old by the government without a vote in the parliament. The lower house's chairwoman, Yael Braun-Pivet, declared that "the law is regarded adopted from this point forward."
FRANCE - Paris burns as the people lose their final legal battle against the State.
— Bernie's Tweets (@BernieSpofforth) April 14, 2023
I don’t think they care about legal, now they know the law doesn’t care about them 🔥
pic.twitter.com/hArOHeoSIH
Following the decision, on March 20, the government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, but the outrage has initiated the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term.
Political historian Jean Garrigues also said that the way by which the reform was implemented discredited "all of our institutional foundations, all of our political figures."
"The link between our citizens and their national representatives has been stretched further in this crisis, as it was during the Yellow Vests," Garrigues wrote in Le Monde newspaper, referring to the protests.
Read more: 'Yellow Vests' against French arms supply to Ukraine amid protests
Some prominent historians warned that if Macron does not restore his legitimacy, "the time of revolutions could come back, or else there will be an accumulation of toxic disaffection which will open the way for far-right populism," Pierre Rosanvallon told Liberation newspaper.
