French president visits eastern towns amid boos over pension reform

French president visits eastern towns amid boos over pension reform

Some protesters banged pots and pans, others demanded resignation

By Umit Donmez

PARIS (AA) – The French president was accosted by the protesters with boos on his visit to the country's eastern region amid public outrage over the government's pension reform, local media reported Wednesday.

Emmanuel Macron set off on his first domestic visit after promulgating the widely-contested pension reform plan last weekend.

He went to a factory in the town of Muttersholtz, where people banged pots and pans to protest his arrival, local media reported.

Macron later commented on this scene, saying: "It is not the pots that will make France progress."

The president then visited the town of Selestat in the department of Bas-Rhin.

Macron met residents of Selestat, who booed and hissed and urged the president to resign. They also sang the famous "We are here", the Yellow Vest protest song.

The controversial pension reform plan was signed and promulgated Saturday in the Official Journal.

Macron signed the bill after the Constitutional Council finished its review late Friday despite demands by trade unions to drop the measure that has drawn weeks of protests.

The nine "sages" as they are known in France partially approved the bill while rejecting six of its measures, including those regarding senior workers.

The bill includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, requiring at least 43 years of work to be eligible for a full pension, with workers and trade unions among others vehemently opposing the plan.

The government unveiled the reform proposal in January and it was taken up for parliamentary debate the following month even as millions took to the streets to oppose it.

Unrest intensified when Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, after consulting with Macron, decided to use special constitutional powers to adopt the bill without parliamentary approval in March.

The decision was driven by fear that lawmakers would be able to block the reforms as the government lacks an absolute majority in the legislature.


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