French government fights to survive
PARIS, March 20, (AP): France’s government is facing a critical, maybe fatal, moment Monday with no-confidence motions filed by lawmakers furious that President Emmanuel Macron ordered the use of special constitutional powers to force through an unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without giving them a vote.
National Assembly lawmakers are set to vote in the afternoon on two no-confidence motions, one from the far-right National Rally and the other, more threatening one from a small centrist group that has gathered support across the left.
The Senate, dominated by conservatives who back the retirement plan, approved the legislation last week.
The no-confidence motions each need the backing of 287 lawmakers in the National Assembly, the lower chamber, to pass.
Although the motions appear unlikely to succeed, the climate of protest that Macron’s pension reforms has sparked in parliament and on the streets means the outcome of voting in the National Assembly is not guaranteed. No such motion has succeeded since 1962.
Macron’s centrist alliance still has the most seats in the National Assembly. A minority of lawmakers from the Republicans party could stray from the party line, but it remains to be seen whether they’re willing to bring down Macron’s government.
The tensions in the political arena are echoed on the streets, marked by intermittent protests and strikes in various sectors, from transport to energy and sanitation workers. Garbage in Paris is piling ever higher and reeking of rotting food on the 15th day of a strike by collectors. The three main incinerators serving the French capital have been mostly blocked, just like a garbage sorting center northwest of Paris.
“The goal is to support the workers on strike in Paris ... to put pressure on this government that wants to pass this unjust, brutal and useless and ineffective law,” said Kamel Brahmi, of the leftist CGT union, speaking to workers with a bullhorn at the Romainville sorting plant.
Some refineries that supply gas stations also are at least partially blocked, and Transport Minister Clement Beaune said on France-Info radio Monday that he would take action if necessary to ensure that fuel still gets out.
Unions, demanding that the government simply withdraw the retirement bill, have called for new nationwide protests on Thursday.
If the no-confidence votes fail, the bill is considered adopted. It is then expected to head to the Constitutional Council before turning into law, if validated by the body.
If a majority agrees, it would spell the end of the retirement reform plan and force the government to resign. A new Cabinet would be appointed. Macron could retain Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne should he choose; no other name has been floated.
Borne has taken the brunt of the opposition’s fury and will have to defend herself Monday before lawmakers.
Should the no-confidence motion pass, it would be a big blow to Macron, likely weighing on the remainder of his second term, which ends in 2027.
PARIS: Also: Emmanuel Macron
French President pledged Sunday to protect lawmakers facing threats for supporting his push to raise the retirement age, amid sustained strikes and protests over the pension bill ahead of high-stakes votes in parliament Monday.
Protesters vandalized the office of the president of the conservative Republican party overnight, in an apparent threat to get his party to block Macron’s pension reform.
Eric Ciotti tweeted a photo of his office in the French Riviera city of Nice with shattered windows after a paving stone was thrown at it. The vandals also scrawled the words “the motion or the stone” - in reference to two no-confidence motions to be voted on Monday in the lower house of parliament.
Other officials have also reported vandalism or intimidation attempts in recent days for their support for the retirement bill.
In response, Macron called the speakers of both houses of parliament to affirm his support for all legislators and said the government was mobilized to “put everything in place to protect them,” the president’s office said Sunday night.