After the French government decided to pass pension reforms without a vote in parliament, thousands of people came out in protest on the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday singing the national anthem and waving trade union flags.


Police in Paris clashed with protesters who converged on Place de la Concorde in response to raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, as per a report by the BBC.


A fire was lit in the middle of the Place de la Concorde and police carrying shields and batons fired tear gas on protests in a bid to clear the square. By nightfall, 120 people were arrested, Paris police told news agency AFP.


In Parliament, chaotic scenes ensued as radical left MPs sang La Marseillaise at the top of their voices to stop French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne from speaking, the Guardian reported.


The French government has used controversial special constitutional powers to force a rise in the pension age.


Borne invoked article 49:3 of the constitution, allowing the government to avoid a vote in the Assembly before MPs were scheduled to vote on the controversial bill while there was uncertainty about securing a majority.


The French Prime Minister told the parliament that the bill would be pushed through because the government could not “gamble the future of our pensions”, as quoted in a report by The Guardian.


 



Protesters hold a banner of the Solidaires Trade Union reading "49.3 or not, let's keep fighting, General strike" in front of a demonstrator wearing a yellow vest reading "Fuck 49.3" during a demonstration after the French government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using the article 49.3 of the constitution, in Nantes, western France, on March 16, 2023. The French president on March 16 rammed a controversial pension reform through parliament without a vote, deploying a rarely used constitutional power that risks inflaming protests. 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. (LOIC VENANCE / AFP)


France Pension Protests


France has the lowest qualifying age for a state pension among major European economies. The country spends a significant amount supporting the system.


The proposed changes include increasing the minimum general retirement age from 62 to 64 while some public sector workers will also lose privileges. The rise in retirement will increase the number of years of work required to qualify for a full pension, as per The Guardian. 


The changes were part of French President Emmanuel Macron’s manifesto for his re-election to a second term in office in 2022.


The government has maintained that raising the retirement age, ending privileges for some public sector workers, and making criteria for a full pension stricter are needed to prevent big deficits from piling up.


According to the BBC’s report, the sentiment pertaining to the pension scheme overhaul in France is that a rich man's government is taking away the pension system which is seen as the cornerstone of the country’s model of social protection.


Politicians call the French pension system a “solidarity between the generations” as the working population pays mandatory payroll charges to fund those in retirement. All French workers get a state pension.


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No-Confidence Motion Against President Emmanuel Macron's Government


As per the BBC’s report, far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen suggested that a no-confidence motion will be filed against President Emmanuel Macron's government. The Guardian reported that Opposition politicians will call for a no-confidence vote in the next 24 hours.


An attempt to bypass a parliamentary vote on an unpopular change comes with the risk of opposition parties immediately tabling a vote of no-confidence.


If the vote is successful, the government will collapse which is a theoretical possibility, but unlikely, as the far-right, the left, and the conservative opposition will have to come together for the same, the BBC reported.


According to AFP, the French cabinet is expected to survive because it is backed by the right-wing Republicans party.


Leader of left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) Mathilde Panot tweeted that the French President had plunged the country into a government crisis, without parliamentary or popular legitimacy.


As per the Guardian, Left MPs shouted “Resign! Resign!” at the French Prime Minister while the members of the radical left party France Unbowed sang the national anthem so loudly that Borne was not able to speak in her first attempt. The session had to be suspended before she tried to be heard again.


Macron is yet to make a public comment but AFP reported that he told a closed-door cabinet meeting: “You cannot play with the future of the country.”