French President Emmanuel Macron doubled down on his plan to reform pensions, comparing protesters to the crowds who stormed the US Capitol as he expressed confidence in his prime minister.
(Bloomberg) — French President Emmanuel Macron doubled down on his plan to reform pensions, comparing protesters to the crowds who stormed the US Capitol as he expressed confidence in his prime minister.
Speaking a day before a new round of strikes and demonstrations against his reform, Macron said he would keep his Premier Elisabeth Borne and expand his base by working with other parliamentary forces, during a lunchtime interview on the most-watched French television channels.
“When the US experienced what it went through on Capitol Hill, when Brazil experienced what it experienced, when you had the extreme violence in Germany, in the Netherlands or sometimes here, we must say: we respect, we listen,” Macron said Wednesday. He added: “But we cannot accept rebels and factions.”
Macron’s flagship reform was finally adopted Monday after the opposition failed to pass a vote of no confidence in his government. But the 45-year-old leader emerged bruised by the episode, which fell short of overthrowing his administration by only nine votes. Macron compared protesters to movements including supporters of Donald Trump storming the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn his electoral defeat to President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
“We must go ahead because it’s in the higher interest of the nation,” Macron said. “Between opinion polls and short-term considerations, I pick the general interest.” He added: “It doesn’t make me happy.”
Macron said people were angry for other reasons than the pension reform, citing unemployment and adding that he is working on ways to force companies carrying out share buybacks to distribute more of their profits to workers, as he seeks to defuse the anger of protest over his pension reform.
Opinion polls show most French people still oppose his plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.
‘A Mockery’
“He’s speaking a day before a social movement — that’s a provocation,” said Danielle Tartakowski, a historian who studies social movements in the 20th century. “His strategy is letting the movement rot, and repress it.”
Soon after the interview, CGT union leader Philippe Martinez called it “a mockery” on LCI television.
Sporadic demonstrations have already sprung up this week and around 300 people were arrested Monday evening, according to Agence-France Presse. Around 7% of gas stations in the country were out of fuel due to walkouts at refineries, AFP reported, with the government starting to requisition staff.
But perhaps the most visible sign of the tension is garbage piling up on the streets of Paris as local services continue to strike.
Olivier Marleix, the head of the Republicans in the lower house, urged the president earlier Wednesday to start talks with unions, adding that while he backed the gist of the pension reform, Macron should “change his behavior.”
A recent Elabe poll showed that for 68% of the French, “anger” was the word which described most accurately their state of mind toward the use of the constitutional provision. The word especially resonates among poorer workers, according to the survey.
Asked if he had made any mistakes, Macron said “perhaps that I didn’t manage to convince people that this reform is needed.”
(Updates with Macron comments, details from first paragraph)
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