The opposition has 24 hours to table a vote of no confidence against the government
French President Emmanuel Macron took a risk and decided to push through his unpopular pension reform, avoiding an unpredictable vote in the National Assembly, the BBC reported. Minutes later, protesters began gathering in the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVIII and Marie-Antoinette were beheaded along with thousands of others during the French Revolution.
“Emmanuel Macron, president of the business bosses, we are coming for you,” chanted a crowd of protesting students at Concorde.
Although the plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was passed by the upper house of the Senate on Thursday, ministers realized that
they don’t have enough votes
the bill to pass in the lower house.
In parliament, Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne announced she would rely on a constitutional procedure, which experts say is seen as the nuclear option because it could lead to revolution amid ongoing protests over the reform. Article 49:3 allows the government to pass legislation without a vote. The move is perfectly legal and has been enshrined in the constitution since its inception in 1958. But over the past decade, it has increasingly come to be seen as an undemocratic tool.
“We cannot bet the future of our pensions, this reform is necessary,” Bourne told a session of the lower house of parliament. While she occupied the rostrum, MPs from the left sang the national anthem “The Marseillaise” and held placards reading “No to 64”. The prime minister’s speech was interrupted by shouts: “Resignation, resignation!”. Bourne accused his opponents of blocking democratic processes and assured that there had been enough negotiations on the subject.
Opposition parties now have 24 hours to table a vote of no confidence before the document becomes law.
“Today is the first day since the end of Emmanuel Macron’s term”,
said Mathilde Pano, chairwoman of the far-left France Rebellious party group.
The leader of the far-right National Unity party, Marine Le Pen, has announced that she will support a vote of no confidence against the government.
“This is a complete failure for Emmanuel Macron,” she said, claiming he had failed to convince the French of his reform.
Immediately after the authorities’ decision, the parliament turned into an absolute jungle, Western agencies report. It was almost impossible to get through the crowd of journalists and MPs. People’s representatives were furious with Macron that they would not vote because of his move.
“This government is not worthy of our Fifth Republic, of French democracy,” said Fabien Roussel, head of the French Communist Party.
The controversial reform sparked weeks of protests and strikes in France. It not only raises the retirement age by two years, but also requires an additional year of contributions to the national pension system.
Although Macron was re-elected last year on a platform of pension reforms, his governing coalition does not have a majority in parliament and would need support from the Republican Party for a vote. Deputies from the presidential formation “Vazrazhdane” spent the morning on Thursday in desperate attempts to gather the necessary number of votes. They knew that even some of their members might vote “no” or abstain in the face of the bill’s obvious unpopularity.
According to a source who attended a meeting at the Elysee Palace on Thursday,
Macron told Bourne and others that he wanted a vote.
“But I think that the financial and economic risks of voting on the bill are too great,” the president announced, adding that this is the reason he supported the move to skip the vote.
