Protesters gather in western French town ahead of Macron’s visit

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) - Residents gathered in the western French town of Saintes to protest the pension reform law ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s visit on Thursday.

Protesters awaited Macron in the Charente-Maritime region on the Atlantic coast of the country, where residents banged pots and pans to protest the law published on April 15 in the Official Journal, said the French broadcaster BFMTV.

Security forces were deployed to keep protesters away from the president, who will unveil the new reform on vocational high schools, the same source added.

Trade unions organized protests during Macron's latest visits to various towns in central, eastern, and southern regions.

Protesters also cut the power supply to the high school he visited in the southern town of Ganges on April 20.

Macron signed the bill late April 14 after the Constitutional Council completed its review, despite demands from trade unions to drop the measure that has triggered weeks of protests.

The law will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, requiring at least 43 years of work to be eligible for a full pension.

The government unveiled the 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 lacked an absolute majority in parliament.

The law is set to go into effect on Sept. 1.