Macron with almost no regrets on the pension reform

(Paris) Emmanuel Macron has almost no regrets. The highly contested pension reform must be applied “before the end of the year”, he said on Wednesday during a highly anticipated television intervention, assuming his “unpopularity” and immediately provoking ulcerated reactions.

In the evening, spontaneous wanderings of a few hundred people took place in several cities, like every evening for almost a week, but the incidents were limited.

According to the authorities, the demonstrators were 300 at the height of the evening in Paris, 600 in Lyon, nearly a thousand in Lille where a police source reported two arrests for damage and two police officers slightly injured.

In Lyon, street furniture was damaged and used to block traffic on the banks of the Rhône.

At midday, during a 35-minute television interview, the Head of State once again pleaded for a “necessary” reform that he does not lead “for pleasure”.

“I don’t live with regrets,” he said, conceding however that he “failed to convince of the need” for the reform, which plans to raise the legal retirement age to 64.

The Head of State pinned down the opposition by saying that for them, the project “is the deficit”. The presidential interview immediately made them jump, as did the trade union organizations which are preparing a 9^e day of strikes and mobilizations on Thursday.

“The foutage of the mouth and contempt for the millions of people who demonstrate”, slammed the boss of the CGT Philippe Martinez. “Denial and lies”, fumed his CFDT counterpart Laurent Berger, when Emmanuel Macron had just affirmed that no union had offered a compromise on pensions.

Mr. Macron, who on Tuesday dismissed any immediate prospect of reshuffle, dissolution or referendum, listed the arguments deployed by his camp since the activation of article 49.3 on this reform, adopted after the rejection, only nine votes close to a motion of censure against his government.

“If we have to endorse unpopularity today, I will endorse it,” assumed the head of state, who returned to controversial remarks made the day before before the parliamentarians of his majority.

While his reform provoked daily demonstrations in the country and strikes, he had indicated that the “crowd” had “no legitimacy in the face of the people who express themselves, sovereign, through their elected representatives”.

“Disconnect”

Remarks that targeted parliamentarians targeted by violence, he assured Wednesday. “We cannot accept either the rebels or the factions,” he insisted on Wednesday, citing the examples of the attacks on the Capitol in Washington by supporters of Donald Trump or the places of power in Brasilia by those of Jair Bolsonaro. .

Like the unions, political opponents reacted strongly to Mr. Macron’s remarks.

The president lavishes his “traditional marks of contempt”, protested Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “I fear that he has put no more explosives on an already well lit inferno,” denounced PS boss Olivier Faure.

On the right too, the criticism is harsh. The president of the Republicans (LR) Eric Ciotti castigated solutions “not up to the height of the political and economic crisis that we are experiencing”.

“He says he respects, but he insults. All French people, all the time,” said far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

After more than two months of protest, demonstrations and blocking actions have multiplied since 49.3 last Thursday.

In Strasbourg, Laurent, 53, an executive in a transport company and who had voted for Emmanuel Macron, has not yet demonstrated, but will take to the streets on Thursday. “I’m not used to demonstrations at all, far from it” but “the way of doing things, the so-called debate which ends without taking any opinion into account, it’s brutal, it’s not acceptable”, declares the fifties, who did not want to give his name.

“Co-construction” at the Assembly

On Wednesday, the port of Marseille-Fos was totally blocked as part of a “dead ports” day at the call of the CGT, while punchy actions were also carried out around the port area of ​​​​Capécure, in Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais).

The Puget-sur-Argens oil depot (Var) is blocked by demonstrators, as are two roundabouts serving two oil depots north of Bordeaux, while at the national level, 14.3% of service stations know a shortage of at least one type of fuel. More than a hundred people gathered in the evening in front of the TotalEnergies refinery in Normandy to oppose requisitions by strikers, according to the CGT.

Pour jeudi, le SNUipp-FSU, premier syndicat dans le primaire, a prévu entre 40 et 50 % des professeurs du primaire en grève.

La situation devrait être très perturbée dans les transports, notamment les trains – la moitié des TGV circuleront – et environ 30 % des vols seront annulés au départ de Paris-Orly.  

Le trafic du métro parisien et du RER sera « très perturbé ». La grève, reconductible à la RATP, sera plus suivie que ces derniers jours, mais moins qu’au tout début du mouvement en janvier.

Désireux de sortir de cette séquence retraites, le président a tenté de donner des perspectives. Charge à Élisabeth Borne de « bâtir un programme de gouvernement » susceptible « d’élargir » la majorité relative à l’Assemblée, dans une démarche de « co-construction d’un agenda parlementaire avec l’ensemble des forces des deux chambres ».

« Le compromis fonctionne », « nous en sommes capables », a assuré la première ministre devant le Sénat.

Première précaution, néanmoins : le projet de loi immigration, présenté comme la prochaine victime des oppositions à l’Assemblée, sera scindé en « plusieurs textes » dans « les prochaines semaines ».

M. Macron veut également « réengager » un dialogue avec les partenaires sociaux sur le rapport au travail. Mais « il faut attendre quelques jours, quelques semaines », a-t-il observé.  

Réponse immédiate de Laurent Berger : « Ce sont des mots creux, pour l’instant, il y a un gros conflit social, une crise démocratique, une crise sociale. Faut être dingue […]there is a grace period,” he said.