Macron is giving himself a hundred days to calm down and restart his presidency

Emmanuel Macron tried to turn the page on unpopular pension reform in a prime-time address to the nation on Monday. The French president has set a deadline of one hundred days to calm the spirits in the country and restart his presidency, after three months of political and social crisis. In his speech, he admitted that the project was not accepted by the majority of his compatriots, which he regretted. But he insisted that it was necessary to “guarantee everyone’s pension and generate more wealth” for France.

Macron assured that he heard the “anger” of the French. “Nobody, least of all me, can remain deaf to this claim of social justice and the restoration of our democratic life,” he said in a previously recorded speech. Unions and the left accuse him of not coming to the protests. Although he did not make major announcements, the president tried to set the broad guidelines of his government for the coming months and, in this sense, announced that his priorities will be work, justice and republican order and progress to live better.

We need fewer laws, less bureaucracy, more freedom of action, experimentation, power, initiatives at the level of our lives, said the president, who announced, among other things “new pact of life at work”.

Despite the political and social crisis in the country, Macron does not want to sit idly by. “We have before us a hundred days of reconciliation, unity, ambition and action in the service of France,” said the president, which gave the Gauls a date for the next 14th of July, public holiday, in order to make the “first balance”.

As expected, there was no reference to relief from Elisabeth Borne as prime minister. In France, leaders usually change when there is a political crisis. But Macron does not like to act under pressure. Borne has been in office since May 2022.

reactions

The opposition rebelled against Macron’s speech. “Totally out of touch with reality, assumes the theft of two years of freedom,” condemned the leader of La Francia Insumisa, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Far right Marine LePen believes that by not announcing the withdrawal of the pension reform, Macron “has chosen again turn your back [a los franceses] and ignore their suffering.

“So much about that. Those who boycotted [el discurso de Macron] They were right: nothing is lost», believes the national secretary of the Party of European Ecological Greens (EELV).

Pans across the country

At eight in the evening, at the time when the main television channels broadcast Macron’s speech, pans rang throughout France in protest against the promulgation of the pension reform law. The organization Attac France invited the French to make a “concert” in front of city halls and in the streets. The police prefecture of Bouches-du-Rhône has banned pans outside Marseille’s city hall “due to a proven risk of disturbing public order and peace”. A similar ban was also introduced in Dijon.

unions go ahead

After the president’s speech, the inter-union expressed its regret that Macron did not understand the anger of the French and to persist in maintaining his unpopular reform. The unions are not giving in and for May 1, the International Labor Day, they are preparing a “mass mobilization” against the pension reform. Between now and then, they are preparing several concrete actions in different sectors. For example, the SNCF trade unions have promised a day of ‘rail rage’.

Three months after the start of protests against the pension reform, the law is still very unpopular. Seven out of ten French people (69%) oppose the reform, according to a poll by the Elaba Institute for the television network BFMTV published on Monday. 63% believe it the struggle in the streets must continuewhile 37% believe it is time to turn the page.

On Tuesday, Macron called for an inter-union meeting at the Elysee Palace, but union leaders declined the invitation. The president will finally meet with employers’ associations this Tuesday.

Macron announced the pension reform on Saturday, a few hours after the Constitutional Council accepted the essential parts of the text that sets the minimum retirement age in France at 64, two more than before. Previously, the text was approved in parliament, without the vote of the National Assembly, the lower house.

On May 3, the Constitutional Council will decide on another joint initiative referendum project (RIP, for the acronym in French). Left-wing senators want to force the French government to hold a public consultation on pension reform. Last Friday, that institution already rejected the first RIP project presented by left-wing representatives, who intended to set the maximum retirement age at 62.

Two out of three French people support holding the protest

Almost two out of three French people are in favor of continuing the protests against the pension reform announced by President Emmanuel Macron last weekend, which is opposed by the vast majority of citizens, according to a new poll published on Sunday. The survey, prepared by the company Elabe and published by BFMTV, puts the share of those who want to continue the mobilization at 64 percent. 45% of the 1003 people interviewed go ahead and bet that they will get tougher.

Unions have called for twelve official days of strike since January, although tension on the streets of France is practically constant. For now, only 35 percent of citizens believe that it is time to stop the strikes that damaged the image of politicians.