Macron bypasses French legislature to enact controversial reform

OAN Geraldyn Berry
UPDATED 12:19 PM PT – Thursday, March 16, 2023

French President Emmanuel Macron ignored Parliament and used a rare constitutional right to force a controversial measure to raise the retirement age from 62 years to 64 years on Thursday.

Macron has decided to adopt his unpopular reform on pensions without submitting it to a vote of deputies, which angered French citizens across the country.

Many protests and strikes against the proposed pension changes have been taking place across the country since January. Macron, who made the reform the central theme of his second term, said that it was necessary to stop the pension system going into deficit as France’s population grows and lives expectancy increases.

Macron’s indecisiveness over a majority at France’s lower House of Parliament meant that the decision to invoke the extraordinary power was made during a Cabinet meeting at Elysee, just a few minutes before the scheduled vote.

Chaos ensued after the socialist assembly members began the French national hymn, stopping Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne’s formal announcement. To regain control, a speaker had to interrupt the meeting.

“Today, there’s uncertainty” Concerning whether the bill would have been approved by a majority “by just a few votes,” Borne explained. “We cannot take the risk to see 175 hours of parliamentary debate collapse … We cannot gamble on the future of our pensions. That reform is necessary.”

Opposition MPs demanded that the government resign each one as they left the Assembly. One Communist lawmaker had compared the presidency to a political football. “guillotine” Others referred to it simply as a “denial of democracy” This shows that Macron is not legitimate. A union head also called it that. “institutional violence” They also urged for further strikes and demonstrations.

According to reports, hundreds of people spontaneously gathered at the Place de la Concorde. Transport workers, energy workers as well teachers and other public sector workers including museum staff were among them. Philippe Martinez (leader of the CGT hardline union) said that he was speeding through the measure. “shows disrespect towards the people.”

Demonstrators set fire to mannequins in the city of Dijon with the effigies of Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne as well as Olivier Veran, Olivier Dussopt, and Olivier Veran.

The official residence of Emmanuel Macron “Fort de Brégançon” Striking electricians cut off electricity to the area.

Marine Le Pen claimed that her far-right National Rally Party would file no-confidence motion. She vented her disapproval at the French president following the meeting.

“I never expected anything from Emmanuel Macron, who decided, during his two terms, to govern with brutality. However, to be President of the Republic is to seek the happiness of the French people and obviously, this is definitely not his objective,” La Pen said.

According to trade unions the reform will penalize low income workers in manual jobs who often start their careers young. It will also force them to work longer hours than graduates who will be less affected by it.

The administration stated that to avoid significant deficits, it was necessary to increase the retirement age, remove some benefits for employees of the public service, and tighten requirements for full pension.

France will now be on par with Europe’s other European neighbors, who have all raised the retirement age to 65.

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