Far from that rosy image of Paris, where the locks of lovers hang a pledge of eternal love, and tourists look for fashion, light and perfumes, the French capital today lives in a very different situation, where demonstrations, protests, fires, strikes, garbage, in fact we mean a lot of garbage.
Garbage is everywhere in the capital of lights today, the streets are flooded, and the reason is the strike of the cleaners who came out like others to declare their rejection of what is happening in the political arena in the country, and because the cleaners were absent, the rats that seized the city attended, how not, which numbers twice the population of Paris. Fear of the spread of rats and the transmission of diseases appeared, and the news and talk shows began to convey these fears, but on the other hand, some animal rights associations came out to demonstrate in defense of the right of rats as cute creatures in life.
But these rats, strikes and demonstrations are only a symptom of an important event in France, and the questions below give us a picture of the causes of the fire burning in Paris today.
First thing.. Why are the French demonstrating?
Demonstrators protest the French government's decision to raise the legal retirement age in Paris. (Anatolia)
The story began in 2017 during Emmanuel Macron's first election campaign, when the French presidential candidate hinted at reconsidering the pension system and its unfairness, by proposing a new law that runs the points system against the euro, so that the same return does not circulate to all workers unjustly. After his election as president, Macron tried to go ahead with this project, but it quickly backed down due to the wave of "yellow vests" that erupted in protest against living conditions in the country, as well as because of the great opposition to the idea from various professional unions. Although Macron received a proposal from the High Pension Regulatory Authority to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, the idea was buried in the bud after the reservation of the Council of State, and the entry of France and the world into the Covid-19 crisis.
After completing his first term and starting his second term, Emmanuel Macron included this point in his electoral program, without going into too much detail. The draft included many items, the most important of which is raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, and sometimes 65 years, so that the worker or employee does not receive retirement until he has contributed to work for 43 years and not 41.5 years as is currently the case, provided that this change is applied in a gradual manner. This amendment proposes that retirees receive a minimum of €1200,1000 (approximately €<>,<> net after tax).
The French government justifies this change in the pension system by the need to reach a balanced formula between workers' contributions and pensioners' wages, because the country's pension system, as in most countries, relies on workers paying fees and taxes, which the state takes and gives to retirees. However, due to the aging of society, the category of workers has begun to decrease compared to the category of retirees, which means that the working years must be extended, as extending the working years to 64 years could provide the state with additional resources worth 22 billion euros, which helps it to fill the deficit in the pension system estimated at 12 billion euros.
But Macron's plans to raise the retirement age did not go unnoticed, especially since a number of presidential candidates and parties, such as the candidate of the "Proud France" party (radical left), had promised to lower the retirement age to 60 years. Demonstrations erupted in the country as the bill reached the French parliament and the government affirmed its full readiness to pay any political price for imposing this measure, which it considers necessary to limit the deterioration of the economic situation. The number of participants in these demonstrations was estimated at more than 1.3 million people in various cities and states of France.
How did political parties react to the bill?
In addition to the demonstrations, France has witnessed waves of strikes without interruption, most famously in the media by the strike of sanitation workers in Paris. (Anatolia)
Predictably, the left stood against the project, viewing it as an assault on the working class and considering its resistance "the mother of battles." The parties of the left have come together from social socialism to the radical left to stand together, just as in the last parliamentary elections when they faced Emmanuel Macron. For its part, the People's Union for Environment and New Society (the name of the leftist grouping that includes different parties) considered the issue of pensions an opportunity to reunite and show this in the political arena, especially after the differences that emerged in the past period. Moreover, the crisis showed good coordination between the left and a number of unions that led the social movement.
On the other hand, the far-right, led by the National Rally party, did not miss the opportunity to emerge on the political scene by opposing the bill. Jordan Bardella, the new head of the party succeeding the famous politician Marine Le Pen, confirmed that his party stands behind the demonstrators, adding that he will go as far as possible by voting to bring down the government itself.
At the grassroots level, the unions have fully dominated the situation. On March 6, the unions sent a scathing message to French President Emmanuel Macron after inviting him to receive them. The General Confederation of Labour also considered that the social and political situation in the country threatens trade union freedoms if union movements are criminalized by the government, and then the authority will find itself in a major dilemma. This comes after the arrest of <> trade unionists working in the field of energy in the city of Marseille after accusing them of involvement in theft and sabotage.
The government made numerous attempts to intimidate and carrot, but its attempts did not diminish the resolve of the unions, which did not hesitate to show their complete dominance over the country's economic movement. In addition to the demonstrations, France witnessed waves of strikes without interruption, the most famous of which was the strike of cleaning workers in Paris, which made the French capital drown in garbage, knowing that the problem of cleanliness was and still is a major problem for the city administration, especially as it is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world.
How did Macron respond?
A banner with a portrait of French President Emmanuel Macron and the slogan "49.3, because it is my project" is held up by one of the striking French workers. (Reuters)
Macron handled the crisis very calmly, not appearing for a lengthy media briefing until Wednesday, March 22, even though the demonstrations turned the country upside down. The French president initially confined himself to a statement published by AFP in which he expressed his desire to discuss the text of the bill democratically. On Wednesday, Macron gave a brief televised interview in which he expressed understanding of popular anger and stressed that he was sticking to the new law awaiting approval by the Constitutional Council, which of course fueled calls for strikes and protests.
If calm is predominant for the French president, those around him from decision-makers feel a kind of anxiety, as reported by the site "Mediapart", which said that pessimism overshadows the scenes of the government majority, and added that the real victory achieved by the president is the export of "Elisabeth Bourne", the head of the French government, to the fore, she is the official figure who receives blows from parliament, opponents, unions and the street, instead of the president himself.
After the bill entered the French National Assembly for discussion and then a vote, a number of ministers chose to cancel their movements and some of their appointments, as happened with Interior Minister Gérard Darmanin, who canceled his travel to the southern region of La Gironde after they learned that violent confrontations could break out due to the government's desire to pass the law by force. The same applies to parliamentarians, some of whom have opted out of television programs that were supposed to talk about the topic.
Due to this critical situation, and the alliance of the left, the radical left and the extreme right against the government's project, Elizabeth Bourne announced her use of Law 49.3, which authorizes her to pass the retirement law without having to pass it through a parliamentary vote, which was considered by political forces and the street together as a great provocation and abuse of democracy. The move was prompted by the government's fear that it would not get enough votes to adopt the law.
This is not the first time that the government under "Bourne" has used this law, as it has used it 11 times, but the use of the third paragraph of Law 49 put the government in the crossfire of the opposition, because this step allows other parties to submit proposals to overthrow the government, to be voted on in the French General Assembly. It is precisely at that point that a new player emerges: the classic right-wing Republican Party.
Did Republicans betray the Republic?
Eric Ciotti, chairman of the Republican Party. (Reuters)
After the use of Law 49.3, the National Front and the Left Alliance submitted two motions to withdraw confidence from the government, and the bullet passed very close to the head of Macron's government, after it survived its ouster by only 9 votes, as the Republicans played a pivotal role in saving the government. Eric Ciotti, the head of the Republican Party, has confirmed that he will not vote in favor of a vote of no confidence in the Bourne government, arguing that this means handing the country over to the left or the extreme right, a position shared by a number of his party's deputies, but not all of them.
For example, Aurélien Bradie, a Republican member of parliament, said that the French prime minister and the head of state are "sweeping garbage under the carpet," considering that the "poisoned" bill is a danger to society and played with fire by Macron. The same view was expressed by a number of Republicans deputies, who openly opposed the position of their peers in the party who voted against the overthrow of the government. This prompted Louis Boyard, a lawmaker from the radical left-wing Proud France party, to publish the names of MPs who voted against the overthrow of the government, commenting: "Keep these names, popular pressure will make them back down."
Contre l’avis de 79% des français, la motion de censure est rejetée à 9 voix .
297 députés ont donc approuvé la reforme des retraites contre la volonté du peuple.
Retenez leurs noms.
La pression populaire les fera reculer, continuons la mobilisation.
— Louis Boyard (@LouisBoyard) March 20, 2023
Did the law pass peacefully after the failure to topple the government?
Well, after the opposition's failure to topple the current government, we can say that the law has become a fait accompli, and raising the retirement age has become a necessary evil, unless the situation flares up even more than it is now. After the announcement of the government's success in survival, the protesters returned to the streets, which witnessed violent confrontations between them and the security forces, and immediately after that, "Gerard Darmanin" announced the reinforcement of the security forces with 12,5 policemen and gendarmes, and put 400,<> of them in Paris to face the waves of anger. The interior minister also announced his support and defense of his nearly <> injured men, some of whom were accused of involvement in "sexual violence" against female protesters.
Marine Le Pen, a former presidential candidate, said she would not intervene to calm the burning street, saying Macron was the only one who could simply do so if he reversed the measures he had taken. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of the Proud France party, described Macron as the man who lit the fire and closed the exits, while François Rovan, a member of the same party, considered that it is not possible to maintain a system in which one man rules from above and imposes measures against the will of the people.
Apart from France, the domestic situation has provoked reactions from a number of Western figures and media. Famous businessman Elon Musk commented on a video posted by businessman Kim.com: "The retirement age in France is very low, this is a real problem. "France likes to live with demonstrations and riots from time to time." In the same context, the American newspaper "Washington Post" adopted a position in support of Macron as well, saying in a column published on March 17: "Despite the demonstrations, Macron's reforms are necessary." In France as in the United States, ageing is a real challenge that must be dealt with differently so that future generations do not pay the price.
Support was not the only external reaction Macron received. Germany's conservative newspaper Vaz called the French president "arrogant," the same way the Spanish newspaper El País called him. The British newspaper "The Guardian" predicted on March 8 the current situation in France, where it confirmed that Macron's stubbornness will push him to use Law 49.3, and that this will be dangerous for French democracy. Everything that is happening is exclusively in the interest of Marine Le Pen and the French extreme right and left in general, which are approaching the Elysee and the parliamentary majority Elections after elections, and perhaps the economic crisis becomes its last ladder to the realization of the dream of assuming power in France.