French President Emmanuel Macron finally broke his silence on Wednesday after weeks of intense social tension, saying he had little or no regrets about the unpopular pension reform, which he wants to see applied “before the end of the year. “.
The Head of State simply conceded a possible regret, that “of not having succeeded in convincing people of the need for this reform”, during a television interview, during which he repeated the arguments to justify the new law.
“This reform is not a pleasure, it is not a luxury, it is a necessity”, he commented, again invoking the need to respond to the financial deterioration of pension funds and to the aging of the population, France being one of the European countries where the legal retirement age is the lowest.
The law provides for the raising of the legal age from 62 to 64 years.
“Me, I am not looking to be re-elected […]but between the short-term polls and the general interest of the country, I choose the general interest of the country”, further affirmed the Head of State, adding that “if it is necessary behind to endorse the unpopularity today today, I will endorse it”.
And Emmanuel Macron to insist on the fact that the reform must be applied “before the end of the year” “so that things fall into place”.
Highly anticipated, the interview with the president, which lasted 35 minutes, made both the opposition and the trade union world jump.
The herald of the radical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, arrived 4e in the 2022 presidential election, denounced the “traditional marks of contempt” and the “arrogance” of Emmanuel Macron, who according to him “lives outside all reality”.
“He is in absolute denial,” criticized the leader of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, from the National Assembly. “I fear that he has put no more explosives on an already well lit inferno,” he added.
” No answer “
There was also indignation on the part of the unions, which organized and supervised a large-scale peaceful protest for two months.
His statements are “outrageous and contempt for the millions of people who are demonstrating”, reacted the general secretary of the CGT union, Philippe Martinez.
“This interview is lunar. It’s: “Everything is fine, I’m doing everything well, nothing is happening in the street”. There is no response,” he said.
The boss of the reformist union CFDT, Laurent Berger, for his part accused the president of “lie” concerning the position of his organization on pensions.
On the eve of a new national day of trade union mobilization, the head of state confirmed that he was neither going to dissolve the National Assembly, nor reshuffle the government, nor call a referendum on his decried reform.
Nor was he moved by the reproaches made to the government for its forced passage — the executive used a constitutional provision, article 49.3, allowing the adoption of a text without a vote — because it did not have a majority ready to vote for the text in the Assembly, exacerbating popular anger.
Still strikes and lockouts
So far peaceful and framed by the unions, the protest has given since the use of “49.3” signs of radicalization. Tense exchanges oppose demonstrators and police every evening, especially in Paris.
Tuesday evening, 128 arrests were made in France, bringing to nearly a thousand the number of people arrested since last Thursday.
“When the United States of America went through what it went through on Capitol Hill, when Brazil went through what it went through […], I tell you very clearly”, “we cannot accept either rebels or factions”, observed Mr. Macron in reference to insurrectionary episodes experienced in these two countries. “We will not tolerate any overflow”, he then insisted.
Strikes and blockades also continue, particularly in oil depots. Incidents erupted Tuesday in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille (south), where the authorities requisitioned striking staff when 12% of the country’s service stations are running out of gasoline or diesel.
The port of Marseille-Fos, one of the largest in France, was totally blocked as part of a day of “dead ports” action at the call of the CGT union and a motorway in the Marseille region was closed due to pallet and tire fires set on fire by protesters.