France braces for new strikes against Macron pension reform
FRANCE is bracing for another day of mass protests and strikes on Monday (Jan 30), over proposed pension reforms championed by President Emmanuel Macron, with the government and its left-wing opponents trading blame for the expected disruption.
Official statistics showed that around 1.1 million people took to the streets for the first strike day on Jan 19. Since then, the strife has grown to the biggest demonstrations since 2010, when the last major round of pension reform occurred under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy.
A police source told AFP that security forces were expecting similarly sized crowds on Tuesday in 240 demonstrations around the country, in addition to mass strike disruptions to transport, education and other services.
Unions have warned of more stoppages to come.
The strikes represent a major test for Macron as he seeks to implement a showcase policy of his second term in office. His ministers and their opponents have been desperately seeking to sway public opinion, ahead of what is expected to be a bitter and costly stand-off if more strikes are called over the next month.
Senior hard-left MP Mathilde Panot from the France Unbowed party accused Macron and his ministers of being responsible for the stoppages that are to cripple public transport and other services.
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“They’re the ones who want to wreak havoc on the country,” she told BFM TV. She also criticised comments by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, a close Macron ally, as a “provocation”.
Darmanin had said on Saturday that left-wing political parties were “only looking to screw up the country”, and were defending “idleness and champagne socialism”. The tough-talking minister’s intervention has not helped reduce strains.
The most controversial part of the proposed reform is hiking the minimum retirement age to 64 from the current level of 62, the lowest of any major European economy.
Macron made the change part of this re-election manifesto in April last year. He has insisted that it is needed to guarantee the future financing of France’s pension system, which has been forecast to go into deficit in the next few years.
Opponents have pointed out that the system is balanced. The head of the independent Pensions Advisory Council recently told parliament that “pension spending is not out of control, it’s relatively contained”.
For pro-business Macron, who has repeatedly told French people they “need to work more”, failure to succeed with a signature proposal would severely undermine his credibility for the remainder of his second and last term in office, analysts said.
The government, headed by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, has signalled that there is wiggle room on some measures. Parliamentary committees started examining the draft law on Monday.
Borne has suggested that conditions could be improved for people who started working very young, as well as for mothers who interrupted their careers to look after their children, and for people who invested in further education.
But the headline age limit of 64 is not up for discussion, she said on Sunday, calling it “non-negotiable”.
Laurent Berger, head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour, warned that Borne “cannot remain deaf to this formidable mobilisation”.
“Listen, listen, listen to this discontent,” he said.
Macron has so far commented relatively little on the tensions, seeking to stay above the fray of daily debate.
Public transport operator RATP said that most metro and suburban rail services in Paris would be severely restricted on Tuesday. Railway company SNCF added that intercity travel would be badly disrupted, with just one of three high-speed rail services operational.
Meanwhile, Air France said it would cancel just one in 10 short and medium-haul services. Long-haul services remain unaffected. Only minor disruption is expected on the international Thalys and Eurostar train services.
Macron and his allies are facing struggles in parliament as well as on the street.
The left-wing opposition has submitted more than 7,000 amendments to the draft legislation in a bid to slow its path through parliament. The president’s centrist allies, short of an absolute majority, will need votes from conservatives to get his pensions plan approved.
A new poll by the OpinionWay survey group, published on Monday in the Les Echos newspaper, showed that 61 per cent of French people supported the protest movement, a rise of 3 percentage points from Jan 12.
Interior Minister Darmanin said that 11,000 police, including 4,000 in Paris, would be deployed on Tuesday across France to ensure that the demonstrations passed peacefully. AFP
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