French President Emmanuel Macron arrives on the National Roundtable on Diplomacy on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris on March 16, 2023.
Michel Euler | AFP | Getty’s paintings
French President Emmanuel Macron’s government faces a vote of no confidence on Monday afternoon as indignant opposition MPs query his decision to force changes to the pension system through parliament without a vote.
Two motions of no confidence have been tabled – one by a coalition of centrist and left-wing parties, and the opposite by the far-right National Assembly, which can also be expected to back the previous.
Analysts told CNBC Friday that Macron’s opponents were unlikely to achieve the required 287 out of 577 votes.
Nevertheless, the vote is anticipated to be tight and may lead to the resignation of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who has announced the federal government’s intention to make use of a special constitutional measure to pass a long-term plan to boost the retirement age.
If the no-confidence vote fails, the bill will pass and lift the retirement age for many employees from 62 to 64 by 2030.
Much will rely upon what number of members of the centre-right Les Republicains party break ranks and vote against the federal government.
He was the vice chairman of the party released last month for not backing Macron’s pension reform plan, which was passed by the upper house of parliament – the Senate – on March 12. Macron calculated that he didn’t have enough votes to pass the bill through the lower house of the National Assembly.
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 on the National Assembly in Paris, France, March 16, 2023.
Pascal Rossignol | Reuters
The district office of Les Republicains leader Eric Ciotti was pelted with stones over the weekend, Le Monde reported..
If the administration loses the vote, Macron will appoint a government with a latest prime minister or dissolve parliament and call elections. That might leave him “a lame duck in domestic politics for the rest of his term until 2027,” said Berenberg economist Holger Schmieding.
Either way, he’ll spend a significant amount of political capital to attain his changes, which the federal government believes are obligatory to secure an expensive pension system in the longer term.
A poll published on Monday by Elabe found that 68 percent was the antithesis of democracy.
Opponents say the changes can have a negative impact women, public sector employees and people with lower wages. In addition they claim that the federal government favors firms and folks who are highly paid over average employees.
The employees have been protesting because the starting of the 12 months, and the protests intensified in March.
Refineries across the country have been on strike for 13 days, while protests by garbage collectors have created piles of garbage around Paris.
Transport employees and teachers also went on strike. The unions pledged to continue working and called for mass strikes on Thursday.
Protesters gathered in Place de la Concorde during a demonstration on March 16.
Sopa Images | Light Rocket | Getty’s paintings
Lots of of people were detained and hundreds marched in protest across the country, Reuters reported.
The parliamentary session where the vote of no confidence will happen will start at 16:00 CET.