French President Emmanuel Macron faced the gravest challenge to his authority since the so-called Yellow Vest protests after his decision to push through a contested pension overhaul without a vote prompted a wave of protests. | Reuters
The pension overhaul raises France’s retirement age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not go bust.The French are deeply attached to keeping the official retirement age at 62, which is among the lowest in OECD countries.
Going ahead without a vote “is a denial of democracy…a total denial of what has been happening in the streets for several weeks”, 52-year-old psychologist Nathalie Alquier said in Paris. “It’s just unbearable.” While eight days of nationwide protests since mid-January, and many more local industrial actions, had so far been largely peaceful, the unrest on Thursday was reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices and forced Macron into a partial U-turn on a carbon tax.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said some 310 people had been arrested by police and promised to crack down on troublemakers.
Individual LR lawmakers have said they could break ranks, but the no confidence bill would require all of the other opposition MPs and half of LR’s 61 lawmakers to go through, which is a tall order.
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