French protests: Macron’s government survives two motions of no confidence over pension reforms
Violent clashes erupted in Paris on Friday after the government bypassed the lower house with unpopular plans to raise the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64.
James Robinson
Sky News reporter @thejournojames
Monday 20 March 2023 19:29, UK
Thousands of people have taken to the streets in a second day of nationwide demonstrations against Macron's decision to force a bill through parliament to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote.0:47
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Protests continue in France over pension reforms
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The French government has survived two motions of no confidence after pushing through plans to raise the country’s pension age.
Violent protests erupted in Paris on Friday after President Emmanuel Macron’s administration bypassed the lower house of parliament with unpopular proposals to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
Centrist MPs and those from the far-right National Rally had both tabled motions of no confidence in the government.
French President Emmanuel Macron
The centrist group’s vote was first in the National Assembly, with 278 MPs voting in favour – higher than expected but narrowly short of the 287 needed to get the motion through.
MPs from the hard-left La France Insoumise (LFI, France Unbowed) shouted “resign!” at Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and brandished placards that read: “We’ll meet in the streets,” following the results of the first vote.
“Only nine votes are missing to bring both the government down and its reform down,” hard-left MP Mathilde Panot said.
“The government is already dead in the eyes of the French, it doesn’t have any legitimacy any more.”
The far-right no confidence motion, which other opposition parties had previously stated that they would not back, secured just 94 votes in favour.
It comes after protesters clashed with police on the streets of Paris on Friday, with officers making dozens of arrests during the unrest at Place de la Concorde.
Demonstrators rolls a wooden cable spool to a burning barricade during a protest in Paris, Friday, March 17, 2023. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators in Paris roll a wooden cable spool to a burning barricade during a protest on Friday. Pic: AP
Demonstrations also occurred in other French cities, including Bordeaux, Toulon and Strasbourg, in recent days.
On Monday, ahead of the no-confidence votes, protesters on a motorway near the western city of Rennes scuffled with police as they put up burning barricades to block traffic.
Hundreds of mainly young protesters also gathered by Paris’s Les Invalides, the final resting place of Napoleon, to demonstrate against the reforms.
Police spray protesters in Bordeaux0:40
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France: Police spray protesters
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Violence erupts in Paris as police clash with protesters
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Speaking about the protests, Christine Lassalle, a member of FO, one of France’s main unions, said: “The real violence is not in the street, it’s in the reform.”
Though Mr Macron’s government has successfully navigated the two no confidence votes, trade unions have promised to intensify their strike action over the plans.
It leaves the French president facing the most dangerous challenge to his authority since the “Yellow Vest” uprising over four years ago.
A ninth nationwide day of strikes and protests is scheduled on Thursday.
Opposition parties will also challenge the bill in the Constitutional Council, which could decide to strike down some or all of it – if it considers it breaches the constitution.
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