Has Emmanuel Macron doomed France’s government by pushing through his reforms?
Even if it wins a vote of no-confidence, his pension plan is deeply unpopular
WHEN EMMANUEL MACRON lost his parliamentary majority at legislative elections in June 2022, it was always going to make his second term as French president more difficult. Quite how much so was revealed on March 16th. Despite frantic last-minute efforts, his government failed to secure the votes needed to pass a pension reform through normal parliamentary procedure. Instead, it activated an article of the constitution, 49.3, which enables it to force the reform through without a vote—but at the risk of provoking a political crisis.
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