After the French government chose to push through pension reforms without voting in parliament, police and protesters clashed in Paris. In reaction to the retirement age increase from 62 to 64, crowds gathered in Place de la Concorde.
Politicians from the opposition were incensed by the action. In parliament, many booed the prime minister, sang the Marseillaise, and displayed opposition signs.
The plans had ignited two months of vehement political discussion and strikes.
The government may now escape a vote in the Assembly by invoking article 49:3 of the constitution, according to Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. There was no guarantee of gaining a majority, so the decision was made just minutes before MPs were due to vote on the contentious measure. “Today, we are faced with uncertainty that hinges on a few votes. We cannot take the risk of 175 hours of parliamentary debates collapsing. On the basis of Article 49.3 of the constitution, I engage the responsibility of my government on the pension reform bill,” she said.
Élisabeth Borne had to wait two minutes to declare that Article 49.3 of the French Constitution, which gives the government the authority to approve legislation without a vote, had been activated. The opposition is also allowed to react with a no-confidence motion when Article 49.3 is used.
President Emmanuel Macron’s administration will be the target of a no-confidence vote, according to far-right opposition figurehead Marine Le Pen.
Mathilde Panot, the leader of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), wrote that Macron had thrown the nation into a leadership crisis without the support of either the parliamentary or popular parties.
The national anthem was sung and union flags were waved as thousands of people protested the decision in the streets of Paris and other French towns.
As dusk descended, some protesters and police engaged in combat. The Place de la Concorde was set on fire, and officers with shields and batons moved to clear the area while firing tear gas into it.
According to the Paris police, 120 individuals had been detained by evening.
However, unions promised to continue to oppose the pension changes, and the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT) announced that a further day of strikes and protests was scheduled for Thursday, March 23.
Despite the fact that Macron ran for re-election last year after he started a campaign to increase the age of retirement, his ruling coalition lacks a majority in the Assembly, making Republican support for the pension changes necessary.
After months of discussions with labor unions, employers, and political parties, the French president originally suggested a retirement age of 65, but that was later lowered to 64 when he floated the pension reform plan in January.
It was the most important change in Macron’s eyes. But it was the originator of all political battles for the opposition, especially the far-left NUPES (New Ecological and Social Popular Union) coalition. Strong unions in France were also on the side of the resistance, as evidenced by the eight nationwide strikes they organized over the past three months, which brought over a million people out into the streets almost every day.
