Source: Global Network
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French President Macron made a TV speech on the reform plan of the retirement system on the 22nd local time. Comprehensive French "24 hours" news network, AFP, Reuters news on the 22nd, French trade union leaders and opposition politicians were angry at Macron's statement in this interview on the same day, criticizing the latter. Some opponents said Macron lied about pension reform in the interview and showed "typical contempt for workers and demonstrations."
In interviews with TFI and France 2, Macron vowed to push for very unpopular pension reform. Macron said he was ready to accept "unwelcome" in the face of sporadic violent protests across France.
Macron's aides said the televised address was aimed at "calming the situation" as strikes against pension reform have been going on for weeks with little sign of abating, but initial reactions suggest it may have had the opposite effect.
"Lie!" Laurent Bergé, president of the French Workers' Democratic Confederation, accused Macron of "rewriting history" on the social platform Twitter. Earlier, he said that unions had not offered an alternative to Macron's pension bill. Philippe Martínez, president of the French trade union group General Confederation of Labour, told French media that Macron was mocking workers with what he called "outrageous interviews." Martinez said the interview exposed Macron's "hypocrisy," adding that Macron's remarks showed his "contempt for millions of protesters."
Opposition politicians in France were also quick to criticize Macron. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, head of France's left-wing party Indomitable France, also accused Macron of lying about pension reform in the interview and showing "typical contempt for workers and demonstrations." Speaking at a news conference in Toulouse that day, he said Macron "lives outside of all reality."
Marine Le Pen, head of France's far-right National Alliance, said Macron had only "reinforced the contempt [targeted] the French." Olivier Fore, first secretary of the French Socialist Party, warned that the French public reacted violently to the TV interview, saying Macron had "planted more dynamite in the already burning hellfire." Faure also said outside the French National Assembly, "It's shocking. He (Macron) completely denies this. ”。
The conflict over France's forced reform of the retirement system continues. France's Le Figaro said on March 20 that two opposition protests against the French government were not passed, and Macron's government struggled to achieve the goal of reforming the retirement system. As a result, demonstrations erupted again in many parts of France, with massive radical demonstrations in many places, street garbage cans being torn down and burned, and some billboards and vehicles destroyed.
CNN commented that when the Fifth Republic was established in 1958, each retiree in France had more than 4 active employees; By 2020, that number dropped to 1.7, and if it doesn't adjust over the next decade, the aging population will rely on just 1.5 active people to "retire" one retiree. CNN believes that if retirement reform is not carried out in time, France may be in the middle of a deficit or forced to raise taxes. In fact, France already spends 14.5 percent of its gross domestic product on pensions, almost twice as much as the United States. France's public budget deficit is 5% of GDP, almost double the EU's 3% target.