France is on the verge of a “social explosion” due to the pension reform approved by President Emmanuel Macron. Such notice Express Marine Le Pen, leader of the French right-wing National Rally, in an interview with AFP.
“The authorities are deliberately creating all the conditions for a social explosion,” Le Pen said.
According to her, the consequences of the adoption of the pension reform could be foreseen in a few months, but in France “as if they were looking for that”.
As the leader of the National Rally pointed out, in September 2022 she warned French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born that she would not try to “rein in her supporters” if the pension reform was passed bypassing Parliament. . As part of this regime, Macron approved the law in mid-March.
“I’m not going to participate the second time to put out the fire you started,” Le Pen said. She added that in 2018 and 2019 she acted as a “firefighter” during the Yellow Vest protests.
Le Pen added that Macron preferred to “slap” French citizens.
“I don’t know what will happen. The French feel angry, feel humiliated and feel that the rules of our democracy have been violated,” she said.
Marine Le Pen is the leader of the right-wing National Rally party and a member of the 11th convocation of the French National Assembly. It also opposes uncontrolled migration. Le Pen ran for president three times: in 2012, 2017 and 2022. In the last two presidential elections, she went against Macron and took second place.
Pension reform in France
In January 2023, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born proposed a pension reform bill. The document assumes that the retirement age will rise from 62 to 64 and increase in stages until 2030 – three months a year; The first increase is scheduled for September 1, 2023. In addition, by 2027, France plans to increase the seniority required to benefit from a full pension from 41.5 to 43 years.
According to opinion polls, around two-thirds of French people strongly disagree with the reform. He is opposed by a significant portion of parliamentary opposition parties, including the right-wing National Rally, the far-left Defiant France and the country’s Socialist Party.
Despite public and political outcry over the pension reform, on March 16 the law was approved by Macron, bypassing parliament with the help of Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows the document to be approved without vote in the National Assembly. The opposition deemed this procedure “authoritarian”. Opponents of the reform continue to attend rallies.
