Chaotic scenes in French parliament as radical left MPs sing La Marseillaise to drown out prime minister
The French government has used controversial special constitutional powers to force through a rise in the pension age amid chaotic scenes in parliament in which radical left MPs sang La Marseillaise at the top of their voices to stop the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, from speaking., took a last-minute decision to avoid a parliamentary vote and instead push through his unpopular plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.
He opted to invoke article 49.3 of the constitution, which gives the government power to bypass parliament.Unbowed sang the national anthem so loudly that Borne could at first not speak and the session had to be suspended before she tried again to be heard. Macron had told cabinet ministers that “the financial risks were too great” if the law had been rejected by MPs, according to reports from inside talks at the Élysée.
Politicians on the left called the government’s move a major defeat and a sign of weakness. The government was accused of being brutal and undemocratic.Borne had seemed aware in recent weeks of the uproar and protests that could be prompted by the use ofOpposition politicians will call for a vote of no confidence in the government in the next 24 hours. Whether this can pass will depend on whether polarised opposition parties would group together.
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