Some predict the French public’s enthusiasm - and resources - for protests and strikes is dwindling. The Paris trash collectors’ union has called for fresh strikes April 13, with other unions pledging to keep resisting until the controversial law is canceled. The pensions law needs a green light from the Constitutional Council on April 14. Because people really hate Macron - we hate him - and we’re only at the beginning, we have four more years,” said insurance salesman Mohamed Belmoud, 28. And even if the protests die down, the French president will still have sustained a political bloody nose and a permanent stain on his authority. Macron lost his majority in parliament last year and his government survived two no-confidence votes last month - one by only a razor-thin nine votes - after he angered the nation by ramming the reform through parliament.Įxperts say the protests show that Macron was re-elected because of antipathy for far-right contender Marine Le Pen more than enthusiasm for him. That prompted outrage across France that further fueled discontent, diminished his popularity, and galvanized his critics’ image of him as a monarchical leader. Many agree that Macron that has made some fundamental missteps.įearing he might not get enough votes in parliament to pass the bill, Macron resorted to the “ nuclear option ” by using a special article of the French constitution allowing the government to force the bill through without a vote. Democracies’ attempts to balance budgets by cutting benefits, particularly in countries with generous plans like France’s, put administrations at risk. Population growth is down, people are living longer, medicine is better and benefits cost more. Many governments in the developed world are in similar situations. “People are angry," said Jerome Villier, a 43-year-old doctoral researcher in Paris. Mounds of up to 10,000 tons of trash piled up on the streets of Paris during a weekslong strike by sanitation workers over a plan that would push their retirement age from 57 to 59 - lower than the national age because their jobs are physically harder.
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