The flagship bill of Macron’s second term has not yet completed its legislative course. He faces a crucial vote, likely on Thursday, in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament
The Senate, the upper house of the French parliament, adopted yesterday, Saturday, after 10 days of intense debates the controversial reform of the pension system, French President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship bill that sparked weeks of strike action and demonstrations.
Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne did not hide her satisfaction after this first legislative victory ahead of a crucial week in which the government hopes to see her reform finally adopted after a chaotic parliamentary process.
“An important step has been taken,” she immediately noted, expressing her satisfaction in a comment to AFP, and said she was convinced that “there is a majority” in parliament to adopt the reform.
The flagship bill of Macron’s second term has not yet completed its legislative course. He faces a crucial vote, probably on Thursday, in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
The Senate last night ended its race against time, adopting the bill a day ahead of today’s midnight deadline, under the section of the Constitution the government had invoked to limit the time for legislative debates.
“Finally, we’ve reached the end!” said Bruno Retagio, the head of the Senate of the Republicans (right) party, which asked Labor Minister Olivier Disault to convey to President Emmanuel Macron the message: “We are voting for reform, but we are not voting for him”.
From the left, Senator Monique Leuben came out against a “brutal” reform. “It is a dark day for all the workers of this country,” he noted.
As the Senate wrapped up consideration of the reform, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in a seventh day of protests against the reform and the proposed increase in the legal retirement age to 64 from 62.
The interior ministry estimated 368,000 people took to the streets of France, including 48,000 in Paris, fewer than those who took to the streets on February 16, which was the lowest day of protests since the protests began. demonstrations on January 19.
However, the CGT union estimates over a million of those who demonstrated yesterday.
According to opinion polls, the majority of French people oppose this reform of the pension system, which they consider “unfair”, especially for women and workers in precarious jobs.
According to AFP, this measure largely reflects the political solvency of the French president and his explicit will for reforms, although this crystallizes the dissatisfaction of some French people towards him.
On Friday, Macron said the pension reform must go “all the way” to parliament, implying he was not ruling anything out, including resorting to approving it without a vote through Article 49.3 of the Constitution.
Source :Skai
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