Izuchukwu OkosiFrance’s parliament are currently voting (Thursday) on President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64 after weeks of protests and fractious debate on the government’s proposed pension reforms.
Macron and his government say the deeply unpopular bill, which has faced huge street protests and repeated job walkouts, is necessary to keep the pension budget in the black.
At stake for the president, who has made this a key plank of his second mandate, is his reformist credentials.
Opinion polls show a vast majority of voters oppose the changes, as do trade unions, who say there are other ways to balance the accounts, including taxing the wealthy more.
The Senate gave its green light to the bill Thursday morning, as expected.
The upper chamber of parliament is dominated by conservative Les Republicains (LR) senators, who back the reform.
READ ALSO: Macron In Pole Position For France Reelection As President Against Le Pen
The afternoon vote scheduled in the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is a different matter.
Ruling party officials have acknowledged the numbers are tight with LR members of parliament in the lower chamber split on the reform. LR and centrist groups said they were being courted by ministers hoping to convince them to vote for the bill.
“It seems that the tally does not ensure a win in the National Assembly,” Bruno Retailleau, the head of the LR senators told Public Senat TV. “Going for a vote … is very very very risky.”
There is another option for the government.
It could decide to resort to a procedure known as “49:3,” which would allow it to push the text through without a vote.
That would ensure the text is adopted but would be sure to further anger unions and protesters, and would show Macron and his government cannot gather a majority for such a key reform.
But if the government does go for a vote and loses, that would trigger a political crisis and would likely see Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resign.
Macron told senior leaders from his camp at a meeting in the Elysee on Thursday that he wants to go for a vote in the National Assembly, one of those taking part in the meeting told Reuters.
Even if the bill is voted through, unions and protesters have said they would continue their mobilization and hope to force the government into a U-turn.
“If this reform is adopted, the anger and the contestation of this reform will not end,” Laurent Berger, the head of CFDT, France’s largest union, told franceinfo.
Reports say it was unclear if the bill has enough votes to pass.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
![UNN Mass Comm Int'l Conference: Dept Staff, Alumni Pay Courtesy Visit To Vice Chancellor [PHOTOS]](https://i0.wp.com/www.primebusiness.africa/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/IMG-20240418-WA0021.jpg?resize=720%2C480&ssl=1)
Follow Us