The demonstrations continue in France one day after the Emmanuel Macron government made use of article 49.3 of the Constitution to approve its pension reform without it going through a vote in the National Assembly. A decision that led to the presentation of different motions of censure by parliamentarians of all kinds of ideological tendencies this Friday, March 17.
“Macron, resign.” It was the message that was read in a mobilization against the French Government this Friday, March 17, after the use of article 49.3 of the Constitution to approve the unpopular pension reform without a vote.
For the second night in a row, discontent took over the streets. In Paris, a crowd gathered at the Place de la Concorde, in front of the Palacio Borbón, the seat of government.
There the demonstrators lit a fire and the Police evacuated the protests. According to law enforcement sources, at least 61 people had been detained.
Demonstrations also took place in other cities such as Rennes, Toulouse or Bordeaux.
Thursday toAround 310 people were arrested, including 258 in Paris, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed.
“The opposition is legitimate, the protests are legitimate, but causing chaos is not,” said Darmanin, who promised to crack down on the “rioters” and denounced that several effigies and vehicles were burned in some towns.
The motions of no confidence
Earlier, the group of independent deputies Liot was the first to present a motion of no confidence against the government of Emmanuel Macron and his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne. The announcement has the support of up to five parliamentary groups, including the leftist Nupes, which has members of France Insoumise and environmentalists within its ranks.
Bertrand Pancher, leader of this small formation, was pleased to have the support of more than 90 deputies and regretted that the Republicans did not want to join the explicit support of his proposal, although he expressed his “confidence” that some of them vote in favor .
For its part, the far-right National Grouping party presented its own proposal for the transfer of censorship against the French government, because the other formations were not willing to make a joint agreement with the formation led by Marine Le Pen.
Le Pen’s proposal cannot be voted on because only one motion of censure can be debated on the same issue, and it will be the one with the most signatures. In this case, the one with the most signatures is the one presented by the leader of the Liot party.
On the streets and in Parliament, discontent grew after Emmanuel Macron approved by decree a day before the controversial pension reform with the activation of article 49.3 of the Constitution.
This is a measure that exempted the vote on the text of the project in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament, where it did not have the guarantee of votes for the approval of the norm that, mainly, seeks to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
“Do not be afraid”: the opposition seeks votes for a motion of no confidence against Macron
Opposition lawmakers vow to table no-confidence motions in Parliament that aim to overthrow the government and call for the resignation of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
A resource for which around 30 votes from the opposition Republican party would be necessary, as explained in an interview with the local media outlet ‘BFMTV’, Liot’s deputy, Charles de Courson, who declared that his movement is preparing a “very open” motion. to save democracy.
In this sense, the president of the centrist group in the Lower House, Bertrand Pancher, called on the Republicans to whom he said “do not be afraid” to support the measure.
But precisely within Los Republicanos there are divisions that were glimpsed since before the final text of the reform was ready to be voted on in that legislative body, although with Macron’s decision it was not necessary.
While several Republicans were in favor of supporting the bill, others had announced they would vote against it or abstain.
The extreme right is added to this possible scenario. On Thursday, a few hours after the Macron Administration imposed its reform with the activation of article 49.3, the party leader far-right National Grouping, Marine Le Pen, announced that her political movement will also present the appeal that seeks to bring down the Government.
“We hope that those who were going to vote against this pension reform will vote on this motion of no confidence. For our part, we will present a motion and we will vote in favor of all the motions of no confidence that are presented,” LePen asserted.
However, some experts point out that in the face of a fragmented opposition there is little chance that the different groups can unite to try to overthrow the Administration.
It is probable that the votes in the Legislative will take place during the weekend or next Monday, March 20.
Meanwhile, Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt said that if these motions of censure are rejected, the pension reform “will be enacted.”
“I don’t deny the difficulties we face, but at a time when things are moving, we must stay the course,” Dussopt added.
The unions have called for a new day of strikes and demonstrations throughout the country for next Thursday, March 23.
With Reuters and AFP
