When he started in France public discussion of pension reform, the peak of which was the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, even the most pessimistic adviser Emmanuel Macron perhaps he could not imagine the scope and duration of the mobilizations and demonstrations that would follow in response to government policies.

And yet, the French president, having bypassed the National Assembly, seeing how his popularity fell to the levels of the “yellow vests” period, overcoming the “framework” of parliamentary distrust and the Constitutional Council, seeing trade unions and youth took to the streets en masse, finally signed the controversial law and now trying to “turn the page” in domestic political current affairs with a plan”run ahead“.

A plan that must first go beyond the pots and pans that protesters are banging on in many cities across the country. “We will do everything to make the president hear us,” they say, formulating the president’s new big political stake as follows: Will Emmanuel Macron’s “counteroffensive” manage to be “engulfed” by French society and bridge the gap that has emerged in recent months?

Plan for 100 days

Addressing the people of France on Monday, The French president once again acknowledged that the government failed to reach a “universal consensus” on pension reform. However, he insisted on its necessity, pointing out that “until recently, France had the lowest retirement age in the EU.” and that the implementation of the reform ensures the salvation of the country’s insurance system.

Subscribe to kathimerini.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest news from Greece and the world at kathimerini.gr