French President Emmanuel Macron’s opposition in parliament failed to approve a motion of no confidence, which would have canceled the pension reform imposed by the executive branch, in addition to dismissing the prime minister appointed by him.
With just nine votes, Macron on Monday saved his continuity of executive work and pension reform Which caused large demonstrations in the country for weeks and paralyzed some sectors of the economy. The President’s party, more than ever, showed its weakness in the National Assembly, where Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne’s executive branch faced two motions of no confidence. After the vote, many French cities were the scene of Spontaneous protests and riots ended with at least 142 detainees.
Macron deciphered again
The first movementPresented by a group of centrist, regional and independent deputies, It collected 278 of the 287 votes needed for approvalAnd While the far-right movement had only 94, slightly more than the votes for Marine Le Pen’s party. The result is a relief for the government, but it also confirms that room for maneuver hangs by a thread and that every initiative faces a rocky road, while giving new impetus to protests against the executive.
Since Macron’s party lost an absolute majority in the legislative elections last June, Bourne has not known how to form alliances, which prompted her to go 11 times to approve reforms without a parliamentary vote. So far, the prime minister has been able, for better or for worse, to implement projects thanks to the support of the traditional right-wing Los Republianos (LR), but in reforming the pension system, this party has split.
Almost a third of the 61 deputies of the House of Representatives this time supported the first motion of no confidence, which leaves the government dependent on this decaying party, in internal wars. LR leadership confirmed that consideration was being given to excluding the 19 wayward deputies.
During the debate over the no-confidence proposals, the prime minister defended that reforming the pension system is one of Macron’s commitments during the election campaign, and accused the opposition of giving more legitimacy to the street than institutions. lounge confirmed it “Nobody has a monopoly on speaking for the people” He demanded respect for democratic institutions.
Meanwhile, the opposition is growing
Both the left and the far right saw the result converge, almost like a victory: They understand that support for the executive is deteriorating as the months go by. They also announced an appeal to the Constitutional Council against the pension reform, which will delay its entry into force by a few weeks.
However, the left was clear in its appeal to continue the struggle against this reform in the streets, as unions have intensified demonstrations and strikes since the beginning of the year. “Nine votes cannot stop social democracy. The people have to take action on this and that is what they will do.”reassured the left leader Jean-Luc MélenchonWho called for continuing to demonstrate against this reform that delays two years, until the age of 64, the minimum retirement age.
Radical leftist MP Mathilde Bannot confirmed that “only nine votes were missing to overthrow this government and its reforms, a government that has already died for the French and no longer has any legitimacy.” On the other hand the leader of the far right, Marine LépineAnd He considered that “the government is losing its legitimacy.” Macron has called for a referendum on pension reform. Le Pen warned that the political crisis the country is going through can only be overcome “through the ballot box,” and for this reason he called for the dissolution of the two chambers and the invitation of the legislative assemblies.
Protests and no less than 142 detainees
Opponents of the reform continued to demonstrate on Monday in several cities across the country, while the UGTT, the General Union of Workers, stressed that approval of the reform “does not stop the resolve of the workers.” Soon after the vote in the Assembly, a concentration was formed on the Place Vauban, next to the Mausoleum of Napoleon, against the Reformation.
At least 142 people were arrested during the serious riots that were recorded on Monday in Paris. The opposition denounced the detention of peaceful protesters, including politicians from La Francia Insumisa. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of central Paris, knocking over rubbish bins, setting them on fire and looting shops on the French capital’s most emblematic shopping street.
Police deployed BRAV-M riot police who chased protesters on motorbikes into the Montmartre, Opera or Louvre area. Jean-Luc Mélenchon He called for an immediate halt to the arrests. Tonight, dozens of pacifists have been arbitrarily and violently arrested, among them Emma Forio, co-responsible of Jovenes Insumisas, and Laurent Abrahams, activist of La Francia Insumisa. We demand the immediate cessation of arrests and the release of prisoners!Mélenchon posted on his Twitter account.
Mobilization was reproduced in many other French cities. The newspaper reported that a hundred demonstrators in Marseille tried to storm the Bouches-du-Rhône province. Le Figaro Citing police sources. The police had to intervene to stop them. In Toulouse the situation was tense, with demonstrators burning rubbish bins, while in Bordeaux police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
In the cities of Bordeaux and Lille, the police also intervened with tear gas and other means of riot control to disperse the protest, while in Montpellier barricades were erected near the prefecture. And in Nancy, hundreds of demonstrators destroyed street furniture, according to Alsace media. Protests also multiplied in Rennes, Dijon and Strasbourg.
This is the fourth night in a row that riots have taken place in the country’s cities, after the executive authority decided last Thursday to approve the reform without a parliamentary vote. While various sectors such as The transport, education, refineries and garbage collectors have been on strike for several daysThe unions called for the ninth day of demonstrations for this Thursday.
On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron will hold consultations with the main parliamentary leaders of the parties that support him, with the head of the executive branch, Elizabeth Bourne, and with the presidents of the two legislative houses to find a way out of the situation. Macron, who does not have an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies, chose to approve the pension reform without a vote in Parliament. With both opposition pleas for censure rejected, the reform deemed acceptable.
