French President Emmanuel Macron’s government faced down not just one, but two no-confidence votes, allowing it to force an overhaul of the retirement system through the lower house of parliament early Wednesday despite months of protests, reports FRANCE 24.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other cities Tuesday to denounce the pension changes, which they fear will oblige people to work longer for less money. Currently the eligibility age for a full pension is 62.
As lawmakers in the National Assembly accused Macron of “dictatorial” behavior in a debate that started Tuesday and lasted past midnight, protesters illuminated the Champs-Elysees with red flares and intoned the national anthem, the Marseillaise.
The pension reform prompted France’s worst strikes in decades throughout December and January, hobbling public transportation and disrupting schools, hospitals, courthouses and even opera houses.
Now, demonstrators are angry at prime minister Édouard Philippe’s decision last week to use a special constitutional power to push the retirement bill through the Assembly without a vote, to speed up the complex legislative process after the damaging strikes.
In response, opposition lawmakers from the left and from the right called two no-confidence votes Tuesday against Macron’s centrist government.
Despite all the public criticism Macron has faced, his Republic on the Move party has a large majority in the National Assembly, and the votes both fell far short of the 289 votes needed to pass.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.
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