Pension reform in France: the weekend of doubt for the majority

Protesters against pension reform flee tear gas outside City Hall in Bordeaux, southwest France, March 18, 2023, two days after the French government imposed a pension reform under Article 49.3 of the Constitution. AFP - THIBAUD MORITZ

Text by: Valérie Gas Follow

1 min

Before the test of no-confidence motions on Monday 20 March, the government must face the protest against the use of 49.3 that continues in the streets this weekend. In the majority, it is time for concern and doubt about the ability of the executive to regain control.

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This is exactly what a Renaissance MP feared that the use of 49.3 to pass the pension reform "ignites anger over the brutality of the exercise of power".

Like others in the majority, he noted that in the constituency "the idea of 49.3 did not pass at all".

And since Thursday evening, March 16, in fact, rallies have multiplied throughout the France. Demonstrations on the Place de Concorde in Paris, which was becoming a symbolic rallying point for protesters, were banned, a sign of the government's concern about possible slippages.

The spectre of the "yellow vests" is still there... A union source also explains that "spontaneous gatherings of yellow vests fachos" are beginning to emerge and that we can "leave for six months of messy Saturdays".

The moment is critical and the majority is confused, as if suspended pending a reaction from the executive to get out of what has become a political crisis...

One minister even described "a majority traumatized by the atmosphere of the debate on pensions". The deputies question the ability of Emmanuel Macron to regain the political initiative and one of them believes that the president "must not procrastinate ... He has to speak quickly."

► Read also Pension reform: the 49.3 triggers anger and weakens Elisabeth Borne

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• France
• Social issues
• Emmanuel Macron