Basically, they were for retirement at 64, but some were disappointed by the method and the use of 49.3. A year after the start of the second term of the Head of State, they fear immobility.
For Emmanuel Macron’s campaign in 2022, Béatrice Vallette did not hesitate to send a check. A small contribution for the candidate who convinced her “from 2017”. But for three months, the magic no longer operates. “Initially, I am an unconditional macronist, but currently I am one of those who are perplexed”, says the retiree. Like her, 27.85% of voters had supported Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the 2022 presidential election. A year later, some are struggling to understand the attitude of the head of state.
>> #OnVousRépond: what does the pension reform, promulgated by Emmanuel Macron, change?
After three months of social protest, the adoption of the pension reform through the use of article 49.3 shocked many voters who were nevertheless in favor of raising the retirement age. Victor Fichtner, a student at Sciences Po, is one of them. In accordance with the content of the law, he contests the method used by the government. “I was shocked by the brutality with which the reform was carried out in society and in Parliament”explains this Renaissance sympathizer. “This reform is constitutional, it is legal, it is true, but there has been such disinterest on the part of the government for the democratic process…”
“If I’m disappointed, then I don’t even dare to imagine the anger of people who were against it anyway.”
Victor Fichtner, 20 years oldfranceinfo
After a career working in pension funds, Béatrice Vallette is also for reform, but she believes that“Emmanuel Macron took it so clumsily”. “I was a big fan, I was seduced by his intelligence, he has a power of seduction but this boy has no empathy, he is completely off the mark”now tackles the 77-year-old retiree.
“A strong passage”
Beyond the personal criticism against the president, Béatrice Vallette says she is deeply worried about French democracy: “I experienced the adoption of this reform as a forceful transition.” According to her, raising the retirement age to 64 in an amending Social Security financing bill was not “not suitable at all” to a reform of this magnitude.
“We twisted the institutions, it’s serious.”
Beatrice Vallette, 77 years oldat franceinfo
Paul Beyou, a young employee of a large French group, was not shocked by the use of 49.3. “It is the responsibility of the Republicans, who played a double game”, he sweeps. For this 24-year-old macronist, the legal tools used during the examination of the text to shorten the debates were a reaction to the blockages of La France insoumise. He believes that Emmanuel Macron has shown “political bravery” by carrying out an unpopular reform.
On the other hand, Paul Beyou deplores the abandonment of the reform by points (presented in 2019, then abandoned, in favor of that proposed in 2023). “It was a more ambitious and fairer reform, which corresponded to the political innovation that the macronism of 2017 carried”, regrets the one who joined La République en Marche from the start. A reform which, according to him, would not have pointed the unions as much as the postponement of the retirement age to 64 years.
“The fault of the executive”
A time involved with the local group Renaissance du Cantal, Hervé Seguis rebels against the“executive stubbornness”. According to this former business manager, the problem is not 49.3, in accordance with the Constitution, but the absence of compromise with the unions. “Today, the dialogue is broken, it is the fault of the executive. When you can’t talk anymore, all you get is people on the street.”
Whoever voted for Emmanuel Macron in the first round says today “disappointed” : “Of course, I believed in the political project of 2022, but this law should not have passed at all costs, against the opinion of public opinion.” The retiree also considers that the reform has been “misunderstood because poorly explained”and that it arrived at the wrong time.
“Just after the release of the Covid, in the middle of a period of high inflation, couldn’t we wait a bit?”
Hervé Seguis, 62 years oldat franceinfo
Paul Beyou also points to the consequences of the health crisis: “The pandemic has caused deep difficulties for our youth, there, we are still asking for efforts from those who are on the labor market, without compensation.” If he remains convinced of the need for this reform of the pension system, he would have liked compensatory measures for young people, to allow better access to housing for example.
“A five-year balancing act”
In a tense social context, and without an absolute majority in Parliament, the rest of the five-year term promises to be difficult, agree the Macronist voters interviewed by franceinfo. “Emmanuel Macron has four years left, and I don’t know how he’s going to be able to lead in this situation.says Victor Fichtner. After only a year, I feel like a wasted five-year term.” Whether on ecology, or the overhaul of democratic institutions, the student does not see what project could be carried.
“A few months ago, there was a momentum, a legitimacy that allowed us to do everything, but the reform has taken us to a dead end, that’s what I find most tragic.”
Victor Fichtner, 20 years oldat franceinfo
Paul Beyou shares these concerns. “The rest will be a five-year balancing act to continue to reformhe anticipates. It will take at least six months to a year to have a more peaceful social climate. This early macronist is still worried about the difficulty of finding majorities to get the texts voted on. And to make matters worse, he is not really satisfied with the team of ministers surrounding Emmanuel Macron, believing that some are struggling to embody their policy.
“I expected that we would go further on the enlargement of the government, with figures from the right or the left. We would have to send signals of openness during a reshuffle.”
Paul Beyou, 24 years oldat franceinfo
For Hervé Seguis too, a reshuffle is necessary, but he no longer believes in a profound change. “I thought we were going to change things, do politics differently, in a more open way, but nothing changes”explains the one who has now distanced himself from the Renaissance party.
“Everything is managed on a case-by-case basis”
Amid the doldrums, Paul Beyou wants to remain optimistic. “Overall, I am satisfied because it was the main structural reform that we could carry out, and it will generate significant savings,” he explains. The young man is also delighted with a certain return to politics, since the presidential party lost its absolute majority in the Assembly during the last legislative elections. “We are obliged to exchange, It also helps revive ideas and discussion.”
“Now we have to come back to the French and offer them a political project”, considers Paul Beyou. But on this point, for the first time, the sympathizer has doubts. “Macron has always been good in his speeches, he gave a course, but during his last speech in mid-April, we felt a lack of incarnation.” And there are several of them who no longer know where the head of state wants to go. “We do not understand anything anymoretackle Hervé Seguis. I have the impression that everything is managed on a case-by-case basis.”
Beatrice Vallette also has trouble projecting himself. What has changed for her between 2022 and now? “I no longer subscribe to Emmanuel Macron’s speeches, I always have the impression that he repeats the same things, I really don’t see what he is offering us on the horizon, or if that will be enough. avoid Marine Le Pen.” Like her, Victor Fichtner is angry with the head of state. “In 2017, he told us that thanks to his action, people would no longer have to vote for the far right.remembers the student. Today, I feel like she’s at her peak.”