Chaotic scenes in parliament and Paris streets as thousands gather in spontaneous protest
The French government has used controversial special constitutional powers to force through a rise in the pension age amid chaotic scenes in parliament in which radical left MPs sang La Marseillaise at the top of their voices to stop the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, from speaking.
The president, Emmanuel Macron, took a last-minute decision to avoid a parliamentary vote and instead push through his unpopular plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.
Minutes before MPs in the lower house were to vote, Macron was still holding a series of frantic meetings with senior political figures, and suddenly chose to use special powers instead of risking a vote, which he appeared poised to lose.
He opted to invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which gives the government power to bypass parliament.
MPs on the left shouted “Resign! Resign!” at Borne, and members of the radical left party France Unbowed sang the national anthem so loudly that Borne could at first not speak and the session had to be suspended before she tried again to be heard.
Borne told parliament the bill would be pushed through because the government could not “gamble the future of our pensions”.
Macron had told cabinet ministers that “the financial risks were too great” if the law had been rejected by MPs, according to reports from inside talks at the Élysée.
Shortly afterwards, thousands of people gathered in a spontaneous protest at Place de la Concorde in the centre of the city, as trade unions promised to intensify the strikes and street demonstrations that have taken place since January. The head of the hardline CGT union, Philippe Martinez, said forcing through the law “shows contempt towards the people”.
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By: Miss Cherry May Timbol – Independent Reporter
