With President Emmanuel Macron seeking (and not finding) a parliamentary emergency exit, unions fighting back, and protesters increasingly radicalized, France is undoubtedly in a political crisis.
The decision of the French president to implement by presidential decree the reform of the country’s pension system, without going through the National Assembly, where he has a relative, but not absolute, majority of seats, triggered reactions whose outcome is not foreseeable at the moment. .
President Macron had hoped that a majority of around 60 MPs from the opposition centre-right Republican Party (which has strongly supported raising the retirement age to 65) would back the government’s proposal to retire at 64, against the current 62. If this were to happen, there would be a majority in the French National Assembly in favor of the pension reform bill. But when the French president realized that his hopes were frustrated and that “the beans do not come out”, he opted for the path of the presidential decree and not for the withdrawal of the bill, which in his opinion would be a blow against the France’s international credibility.
Opposition motions of no confidence
This decision has collectively led the opposition to file impeachment motions against the government that will be considered tomorrow, Monday. If one of these proposals is approved, the government of Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne and the reform of the pension system would be set aside, since the presidential decree would be annulled.
In recent months, the French government has, of course, faced impeachment motions that were rejected, after left-wing parties refused to side with the far-right. However, one of the latest impeachment motions has been presented by a group of independent deputies and they have declared that both the left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the extreme right of Marine Le Pen will vote for it. If the majority of the Republican deputies follow them, the government will fall and President Macron will have to coexist in the exercise of power with the opposition forces, or resign by calling presidential elections, or calling new parliamentary elections.
The possibility of new congressional elections scares more than all the Republican congressmen who know that their party presents a picture of disintegration and in all probability most of them will not be re-elected. However, Marine Le Pen made a move that could be described as “political bribery”. She said that if parliamentary elections are held, her party will not field candidates in GOP House constituencies that will help bring down the Bourne government. This will significantly increase your chances of being re-elected.
When will Macron speak?
However, given parliamentary weakness, the opposition of public opinion to his proposals to reform the pension system and the increasing acts of violence in the streets and squares of France, Emmanuel Macron is undoubtedly going through the most difficult moment of his tenure in the presidency of the Republic.
As is customary in times of crisis in France, at some point the President of the Republic takes the floor and addresses the citizens. As for Emmanuel Macron, many wonder if he will ever speak, but many more wonder what he could say under the current circumstances.
source: iefi merida
