Fresh protests have erupted in France after President Emmanuel Macron’s government survived two no-confidence votes – one to just nine – on hugely unpopular pension reforms today.
Protesters took to the streets on Monday night, marching with banners that read: “Surrender by force” after the National Assembly election was sparked by the head of state who raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote.
The first centrist motion of no confidence needed 287 votes to pass but got 278 – a tiny margin of victory for Mr Macron. A second from the extreme right received only 94 votes.
That means the hugely unpopular pension reform will now go straight into law, but further opposition is inevitable.
Rioters have taken to the streets of France since Mr Macron ignored the National Assembly to introduce the new legislation by presidential decree last Thursday.
Protesters took to the streets on Monday night, marching with banners that read: “Surrender by force” after the National Assembly election was sparked by the head of state who raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote
A pile of rubbish burns during a demonstration in Paris on Monday evening
French firefighters extinguish burning bins after a demonstration in Paris on Monday night, the day the National Assembly debated and voted on two motions of no confidence in the French government
As the result of the no-confidence motion was read, opposition MPs from the left-wing France Unbowed party held up printed signs that read “RIP” and shouted “Resign! Resignation!’
The close vote is a personal disaster for Mr Macron’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who had been trying to win a parliamentary majority for the law.
Numerous politicians had been threatened with the guillotine if they supported President Macron’s government.
Police said macabre messages had been sent to MPs preparing for the crucial election.
“I’m getting death threats now,” said Agnes Evren, Republican MP and vice president.
She said anonymous tormentors suspected the guillotination of King Louis XVI. and Queen Marie Antoinette in Paris during the so-called “Terror” after the 1789 Revolution.
“These extremists refuse debate – they have no respect for their political opponents and are openly inspired by terror,” Ms Evren tweeted.
“Don’t underestimate the danger any longer. Any threat of this nature will now be the subject of a complaint.”
Emmanuel Macron, here on Thursday at the Foreign Ministry in Paris, pushed through the pension reform without a vote
Protesters march next to a fire during a demonstration Monday night after the French government survived two no-confidence motions in parliament
Far-left lawmakers hold papers that say “64 years”. It’s no’, ‘appointment on the road’ and ‘we’ll move on’ at today’s vote of confidence
Protesters walk past a damaged bus stop during a demonstration in Dijon, central France, Monday night, who they describe as “angry”.
People walk past burning rubbish bins near the Opéra Garnier in Paris on Monday evening
A protester with a red flag walks past a bus stop displaying a placard for a pension group that reads ‘Our values commit us’ during a demonstration in Dijon on Monday.
Rubbish burns on the streets of Lyon on Monday night after the government pushed a pension reform without a vote through parliament
A firefighter begins putting out a blaze during a demonstration in Dijon on Monday night
A protester takes photos of a fire during a demonstration in Dijon on Monday night
Frederique Meunier of the Republican party said: “It’s like they want to behead us.”
And Guillaume Gouffier Valente, an MP for Mr Macron’s Renaissance party, saw a sign of an executioner scrawled outside his office in Vincennes, east of Paris.
“He has now made a formal request to the Interior Ministry for police protection for threatened colleagues,” said a party spokesman.
Renaissance MP Brigitte Klinkert reported graffiti in front of her office that read: “You vote against us, we will remember.”
Other politicians strongly condemned the proposed reforms and their implementation.
Center MP Charles de Courson, who led his group in introducing the left-backed motion, regretted the government’s decision last week to use a special constitutional power to bypass a vote on the Pensions Act.
“How can we accept such contempt for Parliament? How can we accept such conditions in order to consider a text that will have a lasting impact on the lives of millions of our fellow citizens?’ he said.
Radical left MP Mathilde Panot told the government that “people look at you with a mixture of anger and disgust, as we look at a traitor”.
She said: “Just nine votes are missing to bring down both the government and its reform.
“In the eyes of the French, the government is already dead, it no longer has any legitimacy.”
Laure Lavalette of the far-right National Rally Party said: “Whatever the outcome, you have failed to convince the French.”
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her faction will ask the Constitutional Council to consider and possibly censure the bill on Tuesday.
There was a fourth night of violence across France on Sunday, following Mr Macron’s decision to bypass Parliament last Thursday.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (pictured) tried to win a parliamentary majority for the law today
A police officer clashed with protesters at a demonstration in Lille, France today, as lawmakers took part in votes on pension reforms and distrust of Emmanuel Macron’s government
Pedestrians walk past a fire made of household rubbish during demonstrations in Bordeaux, southwest France, on Saturday
A rioted French police officer watches fire during a demonstration against the plans in Bordeaux, southwest France, on Saturday
A protester holds a placard with Macron’s face reading “You must come for me” at a protest in Paris on Saturday.
Protesters carry a puppet figure of Emmanuel Macron at a demonstration in Nice, southern France, on Sunday
A French police officer tries to extinguish flames at the entrance of a city hall in Lyon after a protest on Friday evening
Gangs roamed the streets of major cities, including Paris, burning effigy of the President and senior ministers before police responded with tear gas and batons.
Strikes by garbage collectors in response to the bill, which have now lasted 15 days in a row, have led to a mountain of waste in the capital.
The French capital’s three main incinerators have been mostly blocked, as has a waste sorting center northwest of Paris.
“The aim is to support the striking workers in Paris and to put pressure on this government that wants to pass this unfair, brutal and useless and ineffective law,” said Kamel Brahmi of the CGT union, speaking to workers at the sorting in Romainville plant.
Some refineries supplying petrol stations are at least partially closed and Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on Radio France-Info he would take action if necessary to ensure fuel was still leaking.
Unions, demanding the government simply scrap the pension bill, called for fresh nationwide protests on Thursday.