Current Events > France's President Macron overrides parliament to pass retirement age bill

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https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/16/frances-macron-overrides-parliament-to-pass-pension-reform-bill.html

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday resorted to using special constitutional powers.
The pensions overhaul has been met with widespread protests and strikes across France.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to the assembly that the government would trigger Article 49.3 of the French Constitution.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday resorted to using special constitutional powers to push his plan to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62 through the lower house of parliament.
The pensions overhaul has been met with widespread protests and strikes across France, with the issue seen as extremely contentious in the European nation of 68 million people.

The plans were passed in Frances Senate on Thursday morning but had been due for a vote in the National Assembly (the lower house), where its approval was not guaranteed.
Instead, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to the assembly that the government would trigger Article 49.3 of the French Constitution.

Lawmakers opposed to the reforms booed, chanted and shouted resignation as she spoke, Reuters reported. At one point the session was suspended for two minutes as politicians sang the national anthem too loudly for her to be heard.
Macrons Renaissance party argues reform of the pension system is necessary to sustain it long into the future. It has a projected annual deficit of 10 billion euros ($10.73 billion) each year between 2022 and 2032, according to Frances Pensions Advisory Council.
However, opinion polls suggest a majority of the public supported industrial action to oppose the changes, which include requiring workers to contribute to the system for 43 years to qualify for a full pension.

Strikes have taken place since the start of the year and intensified over the last week, hitting transport, schools, oil refineries, the public sector and beyond. The action has resulted in trash building up in parts of Paris.

Opposition politicians are now likely to request a vote of no confidence in the government, which they must do by 3 p.m. Friday. Both Marine Le Pens right-wing National Rally and the left-wing France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) have said they will do so.
However, lawmakers are unlikely to vote in a majority to dissolve the National Assembly and hold new elections, Renaud Foucart, a senior lecturer in economics at Lancaster University, told CNBC by phone.
The measure would then go to the constitutional court and most likely become law.
Foucart said the government had its eyes on the next national election, when Macron will not be running. The move means the entire responsibility for the reforms lies with him, rather than individual lawmakers who vote in favor of it.
Foucart added the move was seen as particularly contentious as many people that likely retire at 62 were manual workers or people who had started work at a younger age.
By resorting to [Article] 49.3 the government demonstrates that it does not have a majority to approve the two-year postponement of the legal retirement age, Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT union, said on Twitter. The political compromise failed. Workers must be listened to when it is their work being acted upon.

Yeah, that's not gonna go over well

UnholyMudcrab posted...

Yeah, that's not gonna go over well

gonna be wild to watch

I wonder if this will lead to a 'let them eat cake' moment. Macron should know that you don't fuck with the peasants. Bad things happen in France when you do.

Labor riot time in France again. Solidarity.

Welp, it's time for more French riots. God bless the French.

Who thought it was a good idea to allow the leader of France to just do that unilaterally, Napoleon?
This is why "pen and a phone" was always bullshit. If you can't pass a law, you should never be allowed to fiat it into place anyway.

Playing the "fuck around and find out" card in France never ends well for politicians.

Macron seems like he sucks ass but the alternative is the nazi party so idk whats going on in France

Come to think about it, what's the point of this special power if you can't use it anyway.

MaxEffingBemis posted...

Macron seems like he sucks ass but the alternative is the nazi party so idk whats going on in France

Kind of like here in America.

Biden's not great, but the alternative is much, much worse.

At least France isn't a shithole that will just roll over and take it

Wait. In France the President can pass bills without letting their Congress vote on them wtf.