French protesters wage yet another million-person march against pension age hike
Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Paris
For the 12th day in three months French unions led a million people in nationwide strikes against President Emmanuel Macron’s insistence on raising the retirement age by two more years.
While polls show that a whopping 70% of France opposes the age hike, mass protests across the country have witnessed persisting exercise of police brutality, mass arrests and banning of protest rallies by French authorities.
The pension rollback is on the cusp of becoming law: an executive order eliminated parliament’s role, and a rubber-stamp approval from the Constitutional Council is expected shortly. Once again, Macron refused to enter into substantive talks with unions, further undercutting the democratic bonafides of the bill.
Even though a decision from the Constitutional Council has never received such attention before, almost no one predicts they will side with the democratic majority.
Enormous protests, a general strike, the introduction of a police state, the historic Yellow Vest repression - for over a decade nothing has stopped the French government - whether Socialist or conservative - from forcing through far-right economics.
It wouldn’t feel like spring in the European Union if there weren’t major anti-austerity protests. If the pension rollback receives final judicial approval the unrest may only be getting started.
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