French President Emmanuel Macron broke the public silence of several days on Wednesday and He affirmed that the retirement reform that he approved by decree must be in force “by the end of the year”although is resisted by unions, the opposition and a large part of the population and that led to massive protests and an appeal to annul it still to be resolved, since this Thursday will be questioned by a general strike called by the main unions.
At the same time, described as “seditious” the demonstrators who committed excesses in the protests that have followed one another against the reform since mid-January, and that intensified after the liberal president decided to take it out by decree and not that it was voted by Parliament.
Those demonstrations extended this Wednesday nightin Paris, because the National Federation of Entertainment, Cinema, Audiovisual and Action Unions interrupted a show at the Châtelet theater, and in Bordeaux and Lyon with other protests.
Macron broke the silence in an interview in the midst of the crisis over the pension reform
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Macron insisted that raising the retirement age to 64 is a “necessary” measure, although he admitted that it does not make him “happy, and I would have preferred not to,” in an interview on the main television channels, the private TF1 and the public France 2, assuming the “unpopularity” of the reform.
France’s Constitutional Council is due to review the law in the coming weeks in response to appeals by opposition parties, and the president will only be able to sign it into law after the body gives his approval.
Macron accused the unions during his interview of not accepting any type of compromise measure to bring positions closer
The interview, Macron’s first public comments on the reform after four days of silence since he approved it by decree, last Thursday night, did not seem to calm things down, just on the eve of another day of mobilization.
critical reactions
The president’s statements were “a contempt for the millions of people who are demonstrating” against his reform, said the general secretary of the labor union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Philippe Martinez.
Opposition and unions accuse Macron of lying about the pension reform
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“Macron has added more embers to a well lit grill”sentenced the leader of the opposition Socialist Party, Olivier Faure.
Former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from the left-wing La Francia Insumisa (LFI) party, said the president incurred “his usual marks of contempt” towards those who do not agree with his measures.
An unpopular measure
The Government has faced strong rejection since January of its plan to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and to bring forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years, and not 42, to collect a full pension. Two out of three French people reject the reform, according to polls.
But the tension exploded when Macron and his Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced its implementation by decreesince they feared losing the vote in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament, even with the support of the right-wing opposition and despite the fact that the project already had half the approval of the Senate.
Since that day, the capital Paris and other cities have recorded protests every night in which protesters, mostly young people, burn containers and other items in their fight with the police.
“We will not tolerate any overflow,” Macron warned in the interview, calling violent protesters “seditious” and comparing them to those who stormed the US Capitol in 2021 and institutions in Brazil in January.
He added that he had “respect” for the peaceful protests organized by the unions.
Security forces have been targeted by the hundreds of arrests made since Thursday for the repressive methods used to control the protests, which in the vast majority of cases resulted in their release without charge.
The NGO Amnesty International (AI) warned of the “generalized excessive use of force” and “arbitrary arrests”, concerns already expressed by the left-wing opposition, lawyers, magistrates and even the ombudsman.
Beyond the reform, Macron risks being able to apply the program of his second term that runs until 2027, so his interview was very followed to find out his intentions and see if he admitted any errors, as observers expected.
But the head of state acknowledged that the only thing he committed was “failing to convince” about the reform, which he hopes to apply “by the end of the year” and that he seeks to avoid a future “deficit” in the pension fund.
Observers considered his application by decree of this crucial measure for Macron, who already in his first term tried to implement it, a failure, since it would make it difficult to approve new projects now that his center bloc lost an absolute majority in the National Assembly in elections held last year.
The president met this Tuesday with authorities of the Government and Parliament, and it came out to the press that he had told them that he rejected the three demands of the opposition to submit the reform to a referendum, dissolve the National Assembly and throw out Borne.
Instead, he tasked the prime minister with “building a government program” and “expanding the majority,” media reported.
Macron was re-elected almost a year ago thanks to the decision of all the other parties to support him to avoid a victory for his rival in the ballot, the far-right Marine Le Pen, they see as a threat to democracy in France.
However, many of those same parties that supported him are at the antipodes of the postulates of his liberal reformist program, which Macron intends to continue promoting.
Le Pen accused Macron on Tuesday of pushing France into a “social outbreak.”
The adverse response is bound to continue.
The results of the strike
Dock workers in Marseille blocked access to the city’s commercial port, the largest in France, preventing trucks and cars from entering amid a heavy police presence, French news agency AFP reported.
Rubbish was still piling up on some Parisian streets on the 17th day of a collectors’ strike, which yesterday was extended until next Monday.
The Parisian authorities issued an order in recent days requiring some garbage employees to guarantee a “minimum service” for health reasons.
Oil shipments in the country were partially disrupted amid strikes at several refineries in western and southern France.
The service stations in the southeastern region of the country are currently the most affected by the shortage.
The unions have called new nationwide protests and strikes this Thursday to demand that the government simply withdraw the retirement bill.
Regional and high-speed trains, the Paris metro and other public transport in major cities were expected to be out of service.