French President Emmanuel Macron resorted to exceptional constitutional powers to push through the lower chamber of Parliament his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The pensions reform has been met with significant protests and strikes in the 68-million-strong European nation of France, where the topic is very divisive. The French Senate approved the ideas on Thursday morning, but their acceptance was not certain in the National Assembly (the lower house).
France Pension Protests
Instead, Elizabeth Borne informed the chamber that the administration would use Article 49.3 of the French Constitution. Lawmakers who opposed the measures booed, yelled and shouted "resignation" while she spoke. As MPs sang the national anthem too loudly for her to hear, the session was paused for two minutes.
Macron's Renaissance party says that pension reform is crucial for long-term viability. According to the French Pensions Advisory Council, it is expected to have an annual deficit of $10.73 billion between 2022 and 2032.
Opinion surveys indicate that most people backed industrial action in opposition to the proposed reforms, which include forcing workers to contribute to the system for 43 years to qualify for a full pension, as per CNBC.
Since the beginning of the year, strikes have escalated, impacting transportation, schools, oil refineries, the public sector, and beyond. The activity has led to the accumulation of garbage in several areas of Paris.
AFP France-Presse claimed that police used tear gas and baton charges to force the protestors back across the plaza and away from a bridge leading to the Palais Bourbon, the meeting venue of the National Assembly, France's lower house of Parliament.
France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered police to implement "enhanced protective measures" for members of Parliament in response to the ongoing protests that have erupted as a result of President Macron's decision to bypass the French Parliament and push through a highly unpopular pension reform bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Police made eight arrests, but France Info cited police sources who stated 217 individuals were detained due to violence, notably at Place de la Concorde, where an estimated 6,000 protesters set fire to wooden pallets and flung items at police officers.
Several French towns, including Marseille, Dijon, Nantes, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble, Toulouse, and Nice, also witnessed the outbreak of protests. Earlier on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported that in the face of opposition calls for a vote of no confidence, Macron's administration utilized a rare constitutional authority to pass the measure.
Left-leaning parliamentarians screamed and cried as Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne initiated the unusual procedure to get the bill through the National Assembly without a vote.
Article 49.3 of the French Constitution was invoked to ensure the law's passage. However, it also demonstrated that Macron and his government had failed to gather a sufficient majority in Parliament. The far-right opposition of the nation has said that it would submit a vote of no confidence in the administration.
The choice is a "complete disaster" for Macron, and Borne "cannot remain" in her position, according to Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate in the previous two presidential elections and current leader of the National Rally (RN) MPs in the French National Assembly.
The French leader wishes to raise the retirement age so that employees would contribute more money to a system that, according to the administration, is on track to run a deficit. The measure is the crowning achievement of Macron's second time in office. Since January, his intention to raise the retirement age has triggered widespread strikes and protests.
On Thursday, thousands of French citizens flocked to the streets to vent their outrage at the policy by torching property and clashing with the police. Macron's government used a contentious constitutional method to force a law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through the National Assembly, resulting in protests in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Nante.
France at Risk of 'Democratic Meltdown'
The Senate passed the law early Thursday morning. However, concerns in the governing party and reluctance by right-leaning opposition MPs to support Macron meant that the government risked losing a vote in the lower house and was elected instead to use article 49.3 of the constitution.
While opposition leaders assert that France is on the verge of a "democratic meltdown," the government is now facing motions of no confidence. A police spokesperson stated that there was no intrusion at the Elysee, the official residence of Macron.
Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris lay immediately across the Seine River from the National Assembly and was the epicenter of the greatest unrest. At around 8.30 p.m., thousands of riot police rushed in to clear the area, causing the demonstrators to flee into side streets, Daily Mail reported
Before police surrounded protesters with shields and batons, a water cannon extinguished a fire that had been started in the main square. Unions and political analysts have forewarned that adopting the law by decree, using the contentious article 49.3 of the constitution, would risk radicalizing opponents and robbing the government of democratic credibility.
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