French politician blames Republican party for pension reform crisis

By Alaattin Dogru

ANKARA (AA) – A French politician put the blame on the Republican party for the pension reform crisis.

Deborah Abisror-De Lieme, secretary-general of the Renaissance Group at the National Assembly, told Anadolu that the Republicans (Les Republicains) did not support the government.

"The Republicans, who have been calling for pension reform for 30 years, even in favor of raising the retirement age to 67, decided to play a political game and stand with the opposition," she said, criticizing the party for willing to block the government.

Abisror-De Lieme also stressed that doing reforms is never easy, and added that the President Emmanuel Macron is acting responsibly by prioritizing the budget.

"If we do not pass this reform, we will soon have a debt of €150 billion ($161.1 billion)," she said. "We have an enormous debt and it is increasing. People will not thank you for making them work two years longer, that is clear. The same people, however, will take to the streets in 10 years when the inflation rises to 100%."

The politician added that the retirement age was 60 in 1912 and that life expectancy has risen by 30 years since then.

Abisror-De Lieme reminded that France's population is aging, thus the impossibility for the retirement age to remain the same.

- Pension reform overhaul

The French government used special constitutional powers last week to force the plan through, prompting opposing parties to submit no-confidence motions over the measure that would increase the retirement age.

Members of the parliament rejected both censure motions, however, thus officially adopting the draft bill.

Protesters raised slogans against the government, President Emmanuel Macron, and the pension reform plan.

Macron and Prime minister Elisabeth Borne recently held a meeting after the Senate adopted the final version of the draft bill before it was submitted to a parliamentary vote.

They decided to invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution, a mechanism that lets the government adopt the draft bill without parliamentary approval.

The decision was driven by fear that lawmakers would be able to block the reforms as the government does not hold an absolute majority in the legislature.

Opposing parties then submitted no-confidence motions in parliament, while the protests were held and ongoing strikes extended in many sectors, including oil refineries and public transportation, against the move.

Among 61 MPs of the Republicans, 19 voted in favor of the motion, despite their leader Eric Ciotti's call, according to media reports.

The government revealed the reform project in January and parliament started examining and debating the draft bill the following month.

Workers and trade unions have since expressed growing outrage by holding demonstrations and walkouts.

The reform project includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2030, requiring at least 43 years of work to be eligible for a full pension.

* Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara