On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion that had the best chance of being passed in the National Assembly, submitted by a group of centrist and independent deputies LIOT, Reuters and News.ro write.

A total of 278 MPs voted in favor of this cross-party vote of no confidence, meaning they were just a few votes short of the majority needed for it to succeed. In order for the vote of no confidence to be accepted, it would be necessary to obtain 287 votes.

A second vote of no confidence by the RN, the far-right party of Marine Le Pen, had no chance of passing as other opposition parties said they would not vote for it.

The motions came after Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne’s government decided to invoke a constitutional provision that allows it to take responsibility for the pensions law without having to pass the bill through parliament.

The result was a relief for Macron because a successful no-confidence vote would have brought down the government and repealed the law, which would have raised the retirement age by two years to 64.

• Also read: ‘What a show of weakness’ – Emmanuel Macron slammed by French and international media after bypassing parliament over controversial pension reform

Strikes and protests will continue

But this does not mean that President Macron has avoided difficulties. First, the centrist president’s failure to find enough support in parliament to bring his pension reform to a vote has undermined his reform agenda and weakened his leadership, Reuters noted.

Analysts at Barclays said the government “will be significantly weakened and social protests against the reform are likely to continue for several more weeks, which could have a negative impact on the French economy.”

Unions and protesters, outraged by the reform and the fact that it was passed without a vote, said they would continue to strike and protest, with the support of many in the opposition.

Violent protests erupted across the country late last week, with unions vowing to intensify the strike, putting Macron in the most dangerous challenge to his power since more than four years of the yellow vest uprising.

In addition, a new day of strikes and protests at the national level is scheduled for Thursday.

Opposition parties will appeal the draft law to the Constitutional Council, which can decide to cancel part or all of the draft law if it believes it violates the Constitution.

• Read also: Pension reform in France, explained in 8 main points / “Special” pension regime ends