French President Emmanuel Macron on screen during a TV interview from the Elysée Palace in Paris, March 22, 2023.
Ludwik Marin | afp | Getty’s paintings
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday strongly defended his pension reforms but said the government could have communicated its policy higher.
“Do you’re thinking that I enjoy carrying out this reform? No,” he said in a television interview with TF1 and France 2, his first public statement to the country since the bill was passed through parliament and not using a vote.
The move intensified widespread protests across the country, with a whole lot of people detained after clashes with police.
“I could sweep the dust under the rug like so many before,” Macron said, continuing that the system was not sustainable and the number of pensioners was expected to be 20 million by the 2030s. “The longer we wait, the worse things will get.”
Macron said the law should be implemented by the end of the 12 months. It still needs to be considered by the French Constitutional Court.
If passed, key changes would raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64, and the number of years required for somebody to work before receiving a full pension to 43.
Unions fiercely oppose the law, which they are saying disproportionately affects manual employees, women and low-wage employees, while corporations and the ultra-rich have benefited from Macron’s business-friendly reforms.
The strikes were led by teachers, transport employees and refinery employees blocked fuel supply in some areas. The protest motion by the garbage collectors has resulted in piles of rubbish piling up in Paris, a striking symbol of discontent. There can be a giant strike and protests on Thursday.
Pedestrians pass full trash cans in the fifth arrondissement of Paris as garbage collectors strike against the pension reform, leaving many streets in the capital full of smelly waste, March 17, 2023.
Bertrand Guay | afp | Getty’s paintings
Macron said on Wednesday that he understood there was a “sense of injustice” and that working people felt they were being asked to place in additional effort while corporations profited.
“There is a degree of cynicism when you could have big corporations making super profits and using that cash to purchase back their very own shares,” he said, based on France24’s translation.
“I will ask the government to work on a singular contribution to make that cash when there’s super profits, corporations which can be willing to purchase back their very own stock so their employees can make the most of it.”
He cited a government tax on the profits of energy corporations to fund the price cap, but kept away from committing to a future “super profits” tax, saying “we’ve got to search out the right system, they should pay their employees more, there needs to be more of a contribution to that effort.” “
Macron also said he desired to encourage people on advantages to enter the labor market through higher support for childcare, transport and housing.
Members of the left wing parliament hold banners and sing La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, as French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne arrives to deliver a speech on pension reform at the National Assembly in Paris, France, March 16, 2023.
Pascal Rossignol | Reuters
Opposition lawmakers on the left and right wing oppose changes to the pension system, as do some in the center and center-right parties that generally support Macron.
Nevertheless, on Monday they did not pass two motions of no confidence in the government in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament. The no-confidence motion could have led to the overthrow of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was heavily criticized in France for passing Art. 49 sec. 3, which can pass a law by the National Assembly and not using a majority of votes.
Macron, who has 4 years left in his presidency, would likely should hold recent general elections. This may occasionally have further weakened his ability to enact future policy; nevertheless, it has already spent considerable political capital on pension reforms.
A weekend poll in the Journal du Dimanche showed his approval rating at 28 percent, the lowest since the 2019 yellow vest protests. respondents wanted a vote of no confidence, and 69 percent. % believed that the use of Article 49.3 was a denial of democracy.
On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, France released strategic stocks of petroleum products. month as the latest round of strike motion over pension reform cuts the country’s fuel distribution network.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty’s paintings
In an interview on Wednesday, Macron said he respects trade unions and that folks have a legitimate right to protest and that the government should take their views into consideration.
Nevertheless, he condemned the use of violence and threats of attacks on MPs and mayors, and comparing the situation to the U.S. Capitol riots, the protests in Brazil and the Netherlands, and earlier protests in France, he said “we cannot accept factions which can be unruly.”
He also accused the unions of failing to barter or compromise on changes to the pension system, saying the government had been told “no reform”. Macron had intended to boost the retirement age since taking office in 2017, and a previous package of changes to the pension system announced in 2019 was rejected.
He said the current plan is the result of a parliamentary process and was adopted in the Senate, the upper house of parliament.
“I’m doing this out of a way of responsibility,” he told French broadcasters.