Pensions: Macron wants reform ‘to be able to reach the end of its democratic path’

Emmanuel Macron came out of his silence. While he gave the floor to his Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne, President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday expressed the wish that the pension reform, which will be finally adopted on Monday if two votes of no confidence in the government of Elisabeth Bourne are rejected, “can go to the end of its democratic path with respect to all”.

“After months of political and social consultations and more than 170 hours of debate, in which the Senate and the National Assembly voted for a compromise text, the President of the Republic expressed to the two Presidents (the Senate and the Assembly, Ed.) his wish that the text on pensions could pass before the end of its democratic path with respect for all,” the Élysée said in a message sent to AFP.

“Following attempts to intimidate and threaten elected officials and representatives of the state, as well as causing damage to offices and public buildings, the President of the Republic called Gerard Larcher, President of the Senate, and Yael Braun-Piva, President of the National Assembly, to confirm his support for Parliament and all its parliamentarians, as well as mobilizing the government to do everything possible to protect them,” adds Eliseysky.

Rejection of proposals will cost final acceptance

Elizabeth Bourne on Thursday used the 49.3 constitutional weapon to have the reform passed without a vote, after the decision to launch it was made by Emmanuel Macron. Two votes of no confidence, one trans-party from the Lyot group and the other from the RN, will be debated in the National Assembly on Monday and put to a vote. An absolute majority plan to overthrow the government seems elusive.

Rejection of the proposals will cost the final adoption of the reform by Parliament. Appeals to the Constitutional Council have already been voiced by the left. Since Thursday, organized or spontaneous rallies have been held across the territory, sometimes calmly, sometimes with excesses, against the reform, which provides for lowering the starting age from 62 to 64 years.

In Lyon, on Friday evening, demonstrators broke into the district town hall and lit a fire, which was quickly extinguished. Pressure on Macronist MPs, or LR, intensified: numerous parliamentary offices were attacked with labels and vindictive graffiti, and Eric Ciotti’s office in Nice was stoned to death on the night of Saturday to Sunday with the words “La motion or pavement”.