Emmanuel Macron was labelled arrogant, self-satisfied and out of touch with reality by critics as he vowed to push through controversial changes to France’s pension system in the face of calls for more widespread strikes across the country, reports The Guardian.
In his New Year’s Eve address, the president urged his centre-right government to find a “rapid compromise” to end the protests that have run for four weeks and have disrupted transport networks.
However, he sounded a more steely note by declaring the pension reforms “will be carried out”.
Supporters lauded his determination as Macron offered an olive branch to opponents in talks that will restart on 7 January. The peace gesture, however, failed to defuse the tensions caused by the contested reforms; hardline unions said they were equally determined to continue their industrial action, calling for greater disruption and another day of mass protests on 9 January.
“These aren’t (new year) wishes, but a declaration of war against millions of French people who reject his reforms,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the head of the hard-left France Insoumise (FI) party, said. “The rest of his discourse sounded false and hollow. An extraterrestrial has spoken,” he tweeted.
Macron has remained out of the pensions fray until now, leaving his prime minister, Édouard Philippe, to deal with the crisis.