Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, amid strong protests from the opposition: “This reform is necessary.” , which requires the adoption of Permissible Legislation without a parliamentary vote if the government survives one or more related no-confidence motions.
“We are not sure of some votes, we cannot take the risk,” explained Borne of the decision to abstain from voting in the National Assembly, which was originally scheduled for 3 pm. The prime minister accused the opposition of blocking the debates.
Macron approves pension reform in parliament
France’s government boxed the controversial pension reform without a final vote by parliament. On Thursday, she decided to implement President Emmanuel Macron’s most important reform bill with a special article in the constitution without a vote in the National Assembly. The project can theoretically still be overthrown by a vote of no confidence.
heated mood
The opposition now has 24 hours to file one or more censure motions. Right-wing populist parliamentary group leader Marine Le Pen immediately announced a motion from her group. If the government loses the vote, it amounts to new elections. The atmosphere in the National Assembly was very heated. Some members of parliament loudly sang the national anthem and there were numerous angry complaints.
APA/AFP/Alain Jocard Things are turbulent in the National Assembly
The Senate, as the second chamber of parliament, voted early in the morning for reform to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Passage in the National Assembly, however, did not look certain.
Reform to close funding gaps
Currently, the retirement age in France is 62. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who haven’t paid enough time to receive a full pension work longer. At age 67 there is then an undiscounted pension regardless of the period of payment – the government wants to keep it, even as the number of years of payment required for a full pension increases more rapidly. He wants to increase the minimum monthly pension to around 1,200 euros. With the reform, the government wants to close an imminent breach in the pension fund.
It depends on the conservatives
The centrist government now has to rely on a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly. The opposition threatened that the government should use the special article to avoid a vote in the Chamber of Deputies. The government does not have an absolute majority in the National Assembly. She had the support of conservative Republicans for reform. Until recently, however, it was unclear whether enough lawmakers from the divided parliamentary group would pass the bill. The government probably didn’t want to take that risk.
protests and strikes
Pension plans have not only been extremely controversial in Parliament. Unions consider them brutal and unfair. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest for weeks. The strikes caused chaos in rail and air traffic, there were mountains of rubbish in the streets, and classes were cancelled. According to the Interior Ministry, more than a million people participated at the height of the protests, and the CGT union spoke of 3.5 million participants.
APA/AFP/Loic Venance Protests against the reform have been going on for weeks
Even after the decision, spontaneous protests formed in Paris. Hundreds gathered at the Place de la Concorde in the center of the French capital on Thursday afternoon. The unions announced the continuation of the protests and strikes that have kept France in suspense in recent weeks.
Risky joker for the government
Article 49.3 is seen as a crowbar or a wild card, which can, however, exact a high political price. For it to be applied, the Council of Ministers must first give the green light. The Prime Minister then announces in the National Assembly that he will assume responsibility for the law in question with his government.
“Macron is in the deepest political crisis”
Cornelia Primosch, correspondent for ORF, analyzes the situation and says: “Macron is in the deepest political crisis”.
When Macron was economy minister under his predecessor François Hollande, he was skeptical of the use of the article. The article has been used over 40 times since 1958. So far, all governments have survived the related censure motions. Current Prime Minister Borne has already used the article eleven times.