French President Emmanuel Macron boxes the pension reform by decree. Vote on Tuesday.
For many French people, the virus is not called Covid-19, but 49.3. This political, nationally known cipher stands for the constitutional article, which allows a government to interrupt a lengthy parliamentary debate and to end it with a vote of confidence in one fell swoop.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe activated Article 49.3 on Saturday evening and triggered the associated consequences. Earlier presidents such as François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac or François Hollande had previously chosen the same mode to ignore the will of the National Assembly. This time, however, the left and the right see the procedure as a particularly undemocratic affront. Left-wing boss Jean-Luc Mélenchon is behind it as a "totalitarian drive".
France: Hundreds of opponents of pension reform gather
Several hundred opponents of the pension reform gathered in front of the parliament in Paris on Saturday to denounce the "Virus 49.3" with banners. The conservative Republicans accuse Philippe and President Emmanuel Macron of using the corona crisis to smuggle the reform past Parliament. Macron wants to convert the 42 special pension funds of public servants and train employees, but also lawyers and opera dancers, into a uniform point system. According to surveys, a majority of French people continue to reject the plan because the monetary value of one point is unknown; many workers fear cutting back on the current situation.
The government justifies the application of the 49.3 clause by blocking the opposition. Indeed, it had tabled almost 41,000 amendments to prevent it from being adopted quickly; After a two-week parliamentary debate, barely ten percent of the reform has been advised. Philippe also tries to make it believable that the government has already granted 300 applications, so is ready to talk.
France: vote to take place on Tuesday
The vote in the National Assembly is due to take place this Tuesday afternoon. After a conference call, most unions led by the CGT are calling for a new day of action and strike for today. Only the moderate CFDT union is holding back. To this end, it requires the government to make concessions in the additional part of the reform, which will only come to parliament in late April and regulate the financing of the pension system over the next twenty years.
The unions and the left are betting that Article 49.3 will make the reform even more unpopular, so that the second part of the reform will not go through before the summer holidays. Unless the government is already losing the vote of confidence. The Macron party "La République en marche" (LRM) has the majority in the National Assembly; however, more and more voices are being raised against the 49.3 strategy.
By Stefan Brändle
President Macron no longer wants foreign imams. Critics now fear increased ghetto formation.
