French far-right leader, Marine LePentoday announced the filing of a motion of no confidence against the government because of the way in which the parliamentary work on the pension reform.
Le Pen, in statements to the press, explained that the presentation of the motion by his National Rally (RN) party seeks “a parliamentary referendum” on the bill, especially given that the slow pace of parliamentary debates may make it impossible to vote on article 7 of the bill.
That article, which establishes the increase in the minimum retirement age of 62 to 64 yearsis considered the most important of the reform.
However, this afternoon the deputies still had to discuss about 13,800 amendments to the legislative project, which makes it more than unlikely that the text can be seen in detail before Friday night, the 17th, when the constitutional deadline for the proposal to of the Executive pass from the National Assembly to the Senate.
Le Pen’s announcement took place a day before a new day of protests and demonstrations in all of France, the fifth in less than a month, against the government project, for which the unions expect a somewhat smaller mobilization than in the previous ones.
Leaders of the main unions are scheduled to take part in a demonstration in Albya small historic town in the southeast of France, to emphasize that the protest movement is national in dimension – with some 200 marches and rallies scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday – and is not something exclusively Parisian.
A few weeks ago, the French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, insisted that the delay in the minimum retirement age and the increase to 43 years of the contribution period to have a full pension are already something non-negotiable, despite the discontent and social protests.
“Not that no longer negotiable”, Borne responded emphatically in an interview published by the radio station French Infobecause “it is necessary to ensure the equilibrium of the system”.
Borne also stressed, in the face of discontent and criticism that the reform arouses, that the Government has heard “many inaccuracies” and false information. Specifically, he rejected the fact that the changes are going to particularly harm French women (most affected by career interruptions) and claimed that “two thirds” of retirees who are going to benefit from a revaluation due to the increase in minimum pensions are precisely women.
He also recalled that the 67 year old cap to enjoy the full pension -regardless of the years of contribution- it is a parameter that the Government does not contemplate changing.
The reform also proposes to put an end to special retirement regimes, more advantageous than the general system and used on many occasions by public sector companies, such as the state electricity company EDF.
French public opinion is mostly against the reform and that opinion has been reinforced in recent days. The Elabe demoscopic institute published a new survey this week, according to which 72% of those questioned oppose it, six points more than a week ago.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com