In one of France’s largest protests in history, residents are fed up of over President Emmanuel Macron’s handling of their pension system. Over 100,000 people gathered in Paris and other major French cities. The protests, still going on, have been happening for a number of days.
The big to-do is all about Macron’s efforts to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. It may serve as a warning for Ron DeSantis, as Trump hammers his future opponent over social security changes.
Macron has been digging in his heels, making the situation worse. He attempted his changes initially in Parliament. After their opposition, he has just announced he will ram through the revisions via presidential decree, and unusual show of authority for a French president.
Macron, facing a difficult economy, has been wary of raising taxes. The protest seem to stem from union organizations. The largest trade union, for example, publicly announced that there’s no foreseeable end to the protests. Traffic has been blocked, litter has donned the streets of Paris.
The president did promise substantive pension reform in both of his electoral campaigns. He attempted to strike an economically moderate tone. But 70% of the nation supports the strikers.
In a strange turn of events, Marine LePen, Macron’s conservative opponent in the last two elections, plans to ignite a “no confidence” vote on the president. If that’s successful, his efforts to reform the pension will be overruled.
Stay tuned to Valuetainment as this situation spirals out of control.
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