Macron "Decision for National Interest"
The 10th protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform took place across France on the 28th (local time). The general strike and opposition protests, which have continued for two months, have become more violent since President Macron bypassed parliamentary voting and proceeded with pension reform legislation.
On the day, the British newspaper The Guardian and others reported that hundreds of thousands participated in protests opposing the extension of the pension receiving age to 64, with clashes between protesters and police escalating across France.
In Paris, as protesters marched from Place de la R?publique to Place de la Nation, some set fire to trash and threw objects at the police, who responded with tear gas. By 7 p.m., police had conducted identity checks on over 1,000 people near the Paris protest site and arrested 27.
At Paris Lyon train station, some protesters blocked the tracks, causing train delays. Not only in Paris but also in Bordeaux, Toulouse, and Rennes, police fired tear gas at increasingly violent protesters, and in Nantes and Lyon, damage occurred to bank windows and bus stop glass.
The Ministry of the Interior estimated that 740,000 people participated in the protests that day, while the labor union CGT, which organized the protests, announced that over 2 million took to the streets. This was a decrease in scale compared to the 9th protest on the 23rd, when the government estimated 1,088,000 participants and CGT estimated 3.5 million.
As violent incidents frequently occurred during the anti-pension reform protests, the government deployed a record number of 13,000 police and military personnel, including 5,500 in Paris. The atmosphere has become more intense since President Macron used Article 49.3 of the Constitution on the 16th to skip the lower house vote on the pension reform bill.
President Macron's approval rating, as he vows to make decisions for the national interest, is nearing a historic low. The polling agency Odoxa reported that the percentage of respondents who consider Macron a "good president" dropped by 6 percentage points to 30% within a month. The lowest approval rating for Macron so far was 27% in December 2018, during the height of the Yellow Vest protests against the fuel tax increase.
This survey was conducted online from the 22nd to 23rd among 1,004 French citizens aged 18 and over, commissioned by Public S?nat broadcasting.
The relatively moderate Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), one of the unions leading the protests, proposed temporarily halting the pension reform and appointing a mediator, but the government rejected the proposal.
Laurent Berger, CFDT General Secretary, said in an interview with France Inter on the day that President Macron should show a conciliatory gesture to calm the situation and bring it to an end.
However, Olivier V?ran, government spokesperson, drew a line by saying that while there is more than enough willingness to dialogue with the unions, the pension reform discussion is a "thing of the past" concluded in parliament, and there will be no suspension of the reform.
Berger expressed anger to reporters at Place de la R?publique in Paris, saying, "We proposed a way out but were ignored once again," adding, "This is unacceptable," according to foreign media.
Philippe Martinez, General Secretary of the more hardline left-wing CGT, stated firmly, "Our goal is the withdrawal of the (pension reform)."
Strikes have also decreased in conjunction with nationwide protests. Train, subway, and flight operations were disrupted due to strikes by the National Railway Company (SNCF), Paris public transport operator (RATP), and air traffic controllers.
Famous Paris tourist attractions such as the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel Tower, which usually see continuous tourist visits, were closed due to the strikes. Meanwhile, the garbage collection workers' union in Paris, which has been on strike for three weeks, announced it would suspend the strike starting on the 29th. The CGT said the decision was made due to a decrease in participants and that after regrouping, they would return with a stronger strike. The eight major French unions plan to hold the 11th protest on the 6th of next month.
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