international

Yesterday's recourse to Article 49.3 of the Constitution to adopt without a vote the reform of the pension system is seen as a defeat for Emmanuel Macron, who has staked his political prestige on this key reform of his second term. After yesterday's explosion, the opposition will try to plunge the French government into a deep political crisis.

"We have decided to withdraw our own motion of censure in favor of Liot's motion," said Jean-Luc Mélenchon of Nupes, while the National Alarm has warned that it will vote in favor of all motions of censure.

The vote on the proposals will take place at least 48 hours after they are submitted, most likely on Monday. To overthrow the government they will have to secure an absolute majority in the French parliament. This seems hardly possible, since the presidential coalition has a relative majority, while the party Les Républicains (LR) of the traditional French right, which plays a key role, has assured that it will not vote in favor of any of the proposals. However, some LR MPs may not toe the party line.

"We have a democracy problem because this text, which will change the lives of the French, will be adopted without the slightest vote in the National Assembly," LR MP Aurelien Pranier told the BFMTV network. "Let everyone measure the seriousness of the situation and the risk of rupture of the democracy that exists in our country".

For their part, the unions will try to rekindle the demonstrations and strikes that have marked the lives of the French since mid-January, but were in retreat until yesterday.

Demonstrations

Unions are calling for rallies today and over the weekend, as well as a ninth day of strike action on Thursday, March 23.

The trade unions denounce the decision to impose the reform without the legalization of the parliamentary vote and put the government fully responsible for the political and social crisis "the denial of democracy" will cause.

Security forces intervened last night to evacuate the Place de la Concorde, where thousands of protesters had gathered. By the end of the evening, 217 people had been brought in, according to the police department.

Clashes also broke out in other major French cities, Rennes, Nantes, Amiens, Lille, Grenoble. In Marseille, masked men smashed a bank window and an advertising panel, while others set rubbish on fire chanting "Down with the State, the police and employers".

The chairwoman of the parliamentary group of the presidential party Renaissance, Oror Berge, asked the minister of the interior, Gerald Darmanen, to mobilize "the state services for the protection of the deputies of the majority".

The government and the left-wing opposition accuse each other of inciting the violence.

The environmental MP (Nupes) Julien Bayou accused the government of being ready to turn the country "to fire and blood". Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne said she was "very shocked" by the attitude of some opposition MPs. "They want chaos in the National Assembly and the streets," he warned.

The strikes that have been going on for days in the energy, ports and waste collection sectors are causing great unrest.

In Paris, some areas are submerged in tons of garbage and the authorities are preparing to mobilize personnel for the removal.

According to Elizabeth Bourne, the decision to invoke Article 49.3 was "collective" of the government and the president. It is seen as a defeat for Emmanuel Macron after weeks of talks with political parties and unions.

For the newspaper Le Monde, it "reveals the isolation of Emmanuel Macron". While the newspaper Libération talks about mining the rest of the presidential term. The head of the CFDT trade union, Laurent Berget, speaks of a "wreck".

"It is a crash," an unnamed executive of the presidential majority told the French National Assembly. "It is necessary to dissolve" the Parliament and call early elections.