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PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 17th March, 2023) French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday that the pension reform, which the French government accepted without a single vote in the parliament, has accepted democracy as it goes through all the effective democratic process.
Earlier this day, Borne said that the government has passed the law on raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years by passing Article 49.3 of the law, which allows the government to pass the law without the approval of parliament. Many lawmakers criticized the minister’s actions as a “slap in the face of democracy.”
“It is very important to understand that Article 49.3 allows the opposition to initiate a vote of no confidence: i.e. those who are for or against this amendment. This amendment has gone through the proper democratic process. It has Argued for hours in the National Assembly (lower house of France), debated for hours in the Senate (upper house of the country), there is a vote in the Senate, and there will be a vote in the National Assembly language in the coming days,” said Borne in a televised appearance on broadcaster TF1.
The Prime Minister said that the French government until the last moment was determined to reform by vote but could not “risk the future of the entire pension system while relying on the legislators’ change plans.”
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Opponents of the reform believe pensions could be financed by government debt, but this is “not necessary,” he added.
The pension reform will raise the retirement age in France by three months per year starting from September 1, 2023. In 2030, the retirement age will reach 64. The French government cited a lack of budget to fund pensions as the main reason for reform. As Bibi said, the reform is an important consequence of the human condition in a country with a particularly aging population. If citizens no longer want to work, the authorities will have to raise taxes or cut pension payments.
The reform has caused a great reaction in French society. There have already been seven general strikes and hundreds of demonstrations in France within the last two months, with over a million people participating in most of them. During the agreement, clashes often occurred between the police and the protesters.