French President Emmanuel Macron faces motions of no-confidence after ramming a controversial pension reform through parliament without a vote, deploying a rarely used constitutional power.
The move was an admission that his government lacked a majority in the National Assembly to pass the legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The Senate adopted the bill earlier on Thursday morning, but misgivings in the ruling party and reluctance by right-wing opposition MPs to side with Macron meant the government risked losing a vote in the lower house.
Protests broke out across Paris in response to the pensions bill as people set uncollected garbage on fire and threw the rubbish into the street.
French riot police have begun to clear thousands of protestors from the Place de la Concorde square, facing the parliament buildings in central Paris, using tear gas and water cannons.
French President Emmanuel Macron (pictured) rammed a controversial pension reform through parliament without a vote
Trade unions and political analysts had warned beforehand that passing the legislation by decree, using the controversial article 49.3 of the constitution, risked radicalising opponents
Thousands have taken to the streets of Paris to fight against Macron’s controversial pension reforms
A water cannon was used to put out a fire that had been lit in the main square before police ringed in protestors with shields and batons.
Politicians sought to explain the controversial move earlier on Thursday as protests became louder.
‘We can’t take the risk of seeing 175 hours of parliamentary debate come to nothing,’ Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told MPs, shouting through the jeers and boos from the opposition benches who also loudly sang the French national anthem the Marseillaise in protest.
Trade unions and political analysts had warned beforehand that passing the legislation by decree, using the controversial article 49.3 of the constitution, risked radicalising opponents and would deprive the government of democratic legitimacy.
‘It’s a total failure for the government,’ far-right leader Marine Le Pen told reporters afterwards, adding that Borne should resign.
‘From the beginning the government fooled itself into thinking it had a majority,’ she said.
Riot police move in to clear protestors from the square facing the French parliament buildings in central Paris
Thousands gathered to express their displeasure over the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64
A protestor makes a rude signal as riot police move in to clear protestors from the square on Thursday evening
A protestor tries to kick a fuming tear gas pellet back towards riot police as they work to move demonstrators on
Polls show that two thirds of French people oppose the pension reform.
‘When a president has no majority in the country, no majority in the National Assembly, he must withdraw his bill,’ said Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure.
The government had also insisted that it did not want to use article 49.3, which is viewed by critics as undemocratic.
The government is set to face a confidence vote in the next 24 hours which could lead it to fall. Le Pen said her far-right party would file such a motion.
After trying and failing to push through pension reform during his first term, Macron returned to the issue while campaigning for re-election last April.
He defeated Le Pen running on a pro-business platform that promised to lower unemployment and make the French ‘work more’ in order to finance the country’s social security system.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen (pictured) described the move as a ‘total failure of the government’
Protesters have reacted to the prospect of the retirement age increasing by setting uncollected garbage on fire
The government is set to face a confidence vote in the next 24 hours which could lead it to fall. A woman holds a sign that says ’64: No is No’ during protests in Paris
Pallets burn at the Concorde square in Paris on Thursday as protestors angrily demonstrate against the pension reforms
‘You cannot play with the future of the country,’ he told the cabinet Thursday morning as he justified the move, according to a participant at the meeting.
But political analysts say his mandate is weak and his party lost its parliamentary majority in elections in June which saw the far-right become the biggest opposition party.
Despite warnings from allies about the timing of the pension reform so soon after the Covid-19 pandemic and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the 45-year-old has pressed ahead.
The government’s biggest fear has been re-igniting violent anti-government demonstrations, with memories still fresh of the 2018 revolt by so-called ‘Yellow Vest’ protesters who took to the streets to denounce Macron’s policies and governing style.
Trains, schools, public services and ports have been affected by strikes over the last six weeks, while some of the biggest protests in decades have taken place.
An estimated 1.28 million people hit the streets on March 7 to demonstrate.
A rolling strike by municipal garbage collectors in Paris has also seen around 7,000 tonnes of uncollected trash pile up in the streets, attracting rats and dismaying tourists.
The political implications of forcing through a reform opposed by most of the population are uncertain for Macron and the country at large (a protestor climbs a traffic light on Thursday)
A rolling strike by municipal garbage collectors in Paris has also seen around 7,000 tonnes of uncollected trash pile up in the streets (protests on Thursday)
Trains, schools, public services and ports have been affected by strikes over the last six weeks, while some of the biggest protests in decades have taken place
Binmen have been on strike causing garbage to go uncollected as it lines the streets smelling of rotting food
Protestors threw objects at police officers and set fire to food in trolleys during a demonstration in Lyon, central France, on Tuesday
The strike has been extended until next Monday, with the prospect of serious public health problems leading to growing calls for authorities to intervene.
Laurent Berger, head of the moderate CFDT union, said there would be new strikes and protests after Macron’s move and announced unions would meet late Thursday.
The head of the hardline CGT union Philippe Martinez said strikes and protests had to now intensify, adding the forcing through of the law ‘must find a response in line with this show of contempt towards the people’.
The government has argued that raising the retirement age, scrapping privileges for some public sector workers and toughening criteria for a full pension are needed to prevent major deficits building up.
The change would also bring France into line with its European neighbours, most of which have raised the retirement age to 65 or above.
Trade unions and other critics say the reform will penalise low-income people in manual jobs who tend to start their careers early, forcing them to work longer than graduates who are less affected by the changes.
The political implications of forcing through a reform opposed by most of the population are uncertain for Macron and the country at large.
Martinez warned this week that forcing the legislation through without a vote would amount to ‘giving the keys of the Elysee’ to Le Pen for the next presidential election in 2027.
