The French unions showed this Thursday that they retain the ability to mobilize against the pension reform. But the flow of people to the demonstrations, while very high, has declined over the past two weeks. And monitoring of the strikes has been reduced. The eleventh day of protests this Thursday was used by the government and unions to assess their strength ahead of the next crucial appointment: Am 14 Crisis.
The CGT union estimated 400,000 participants at the Paris demonstration; the previous one was 450,000 by the same calculation; and 15 days ago 800,000.
The government is confident that the movement will wear out over time. On this reading, the French would be willing to turn the tide, although the majority are opposed to raising the retirement age to 64.
Demonstrators in the city of Rennes this Thursday. DAMIEN MEYER (AFP)
The unions, which have been staging strikes and mass demonstrations for almost four months, want to stage a new show of force on the streets of France to get President Emmanuel Macron to withdraw or at least suspend the law.
Speaking to EL PAÍS during the Paris demonstration, leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon announced that the mobilization would last “until [Macron] “And before that,” he added, “nothing. Fight, fight, fight.”
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“Why are we stopping? [de manifestarnos]? asked the veteran anti-capitalist and Eurosceptic politician. “He’s stopping? No. So why are we stopping? Look, sir, it’s not an ideological battle, or just a political one. You’re stealing two years of lives! And people don’t want to. Stop it”.
Students and trade unionists were strongly represented at the demonstration, which began at 2pm in a festive atmosphere on the central Esplanade des Invalides. Mathieu, an English literature student in Paris and passionate about 17th-century poetry and theater, explained that the protest went beyond reform. They’re targeting Macron and the system, said the 20-year-old college student, who is wearing a black sweatshirt and military-style pants. “Our goal is for Macron to leave,” he said. “If the President falls, the whole model will fall.” What if he doesn’t back down on pensions? “He will have no choice but to do it.”
A few yards away was Fabien Pernot, a 42-year-old metallurgical union leader, dressed as a cartoon character, Asterix. And he commented: “In the comic, Asterix and Obelix resist at all costs against the intruder who is Julius Caesar. We too are against this reform and want to oppose it to the end.” “Sooner or later,” he added, “Macron will be forced to back down.”
The first riots broke out around 4 p.m. when a group of violent men attacked La Rotonde restaurant on Boulevard Montparnasse, a place associated with Macronism since it celebrated its first electoral victory there in 2017, and he has moved on around it to visit since.
Riot police protect the La Rotonde restaurant in Paris this Thursday. TERESA SUAREZ (EFE)
Despite the strikes in sectors such as cleaning, energy or transport, France was never paralyzed during these months: the economy continued to function. But the movement, which has been joined by students from institutes and universities in recent weeks, has brought to the surface social unrest that goes beyond pensions. Riots sparked by small groups of protesters and allegations of police excesses have clouded the debate. The Interior Ministry has deployed 11,000 police officers and gendarmes across the country.
Everything is now subject to the double decision of the Constitutional Court. The Wise Men, as the nine members of the court are called, must decide whether the law is consistent with the constitution. They could censor it in its entirety, a possibility few politicians or analysts believe in. Or change some items. The Wise Men, on the other hand, will decide whether to follow the opposition’s request to organize a referendum that, after almost five million signatures, will set the maximum retirement age at the current 62 years. The process would take more than a year.
a bitter discussion
The new day of protests is marked by a bitter discussion between Macron and Laurent Berger, general secretary of the first union, the reformist CFDT. On a trip to China, Macron wanted to reply to Berger, who believes that France is going through a “serious democratic crisis” after the reform passed by Article 49.3 of the Constitution – a kind of decree that prevents voting in the National Assembly. and despite the opposition, according to polls, by 70% of the French.
“That an elected President, by a majority [parlamentaria] elected, even if it is relative, trying to implement a project that has been democratically defended, this is not called a democratic crisis,” said Macron. “If people wanted to retire at 60, I didn’t have to be elected President of the Republic.”
Participants in the demonstration in Nice this Thursday.VALERY HACHE (AFP)
The president was referring to the fact that he was re-elected in April 2022 after a campaign in which he banned raising the retirement age to 65. In the first ballot he was the candidate with the most votes with 9.7 million votes or 27.8%. In the second, he defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen with 18.8 million votes or 58.5%. Critics counter this argument by pointing out that Macron received many votes in the second round not for raising the retirement age but for stopping Le Pen.
The Macronistas counter that the president was the one with the most votes in the first ballot anyway, assuming that voters tend to vote according to their preferences. They also claim that the adoption of the reform was democratic: the failure of the March 20 motion of no-confidence against the government, a motion of no-confidence that annulled the law, showed that there was no majority against it. In China, Macron accused Berger of not having made any alternative proposals this time.
On BFMTV, Berger replied to the head of state: “I demand calm. I urge you not to lose your nerve.” On Wednesday, the CFDT leader and the other seven union leaders met Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne for the first time since January. The unionists walked out of the meeting before Borne refused to withdraw the reform.
Several polls have been published in recent days, according to which Le Pen and his party would benefit most from holding presidential or parliamentary elections now. Mélenchon responded at the Paris demonstration: “Sir, why is Le Pen rising? i will explain it to you In a word. The points Ms. Le Pen gains are the points Mr. Macron loses. What is happening in this country can be seen in many European countries and maybe also in Spain: it is the extreme right of the right. The right is going ultra-right.”
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