Pictured: The Eiffel Tower is seen as protesters set fires during clashes with riot police during a demonstration against the French government’s plan to raise the legal retirement age in Paris, on March 16, 2023. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images/Anadolu Agency)
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Riot police clashed with protesters on Friday evening in Paris as fresh demonstrations broke out against the government’s plan to raise France’s state retirement age.
The growing unrest, which resulted in a wave of strikes since the start of the year and trash piled up on the streets of Paris, has left President Emmanuel Macron facing the toughest challenge to his authority since the so-called ‘Gilets Jaunes’ or ‘Yellow Vest’ protests of December 2018.
Collect ReutersSaturday (18/3/2023), the streets were filled with tear gas used by police to quell mass chaos when protesters gathered at Place de la Concorde Paris, near the Assemblee Nationale parliament building.
“Macron, Back off!” shouted some of the demonstrators, as they marched to the line of riot police.
Friday night’s clashes followed similar chaos on Thursday, after Macron decided to push through a contested pension overhaul without a parliamentary vote.
The overhaul raised France’s state retirement age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system doesn’t go bankrupt. Unions, and most voters, disagree.
France is firmly bound to maintain the official retirement age at 62, which is among the lowest in OECD countries.
A Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL radio showed more than eight in 10 people were unhappy with the government’s decision to skip the parliamentary vote, and 65% wanted the strike and protests to continue.
Going without a vote “is a denial of democracy … a total denial of what has been going on in the streets for several weeks”, said 52-year-old psychologist Nathalie Alquier in Paris. “It’s unbearable.”
A broad alliance of France’s main unions said they would continue their mobilization to try and force a rollback of the policy.
Left and center opposition lawmakers submitted a no-confidence vote in parliament on Friday afternoon.
But, even though Macron lost his absolute majority in the lower house of parliament in elections last year, there is little chance that this will happen.
Leaders of the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party did not support the vote of no confidence put forward on Friday. The right wing is expected to file again at a later date.
“So far, the French government has generally won in such no-confidence motions,” said Berenberg’s chief economist Holger Schmieding.
He hoped it would be the same this time even if “by trying to bypass parliament, Macron has weakened his position”.
The vote in parliament is likely to take place over the weekend or on Monday.
(luc/luc)
