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French parliament refuses to vote on Pension age reform presidential decree

French President Emmanuel Macron. (AFP)

In France the overwhelming democratic majority's five month long battle against a two year hike to the retirement age has been blocked or rejected by every national institution of liberal democracy.

Parliament has refused to even allow a vote on the age hike, which ensured that President Emmanuel Macron executive decree would receive no check, balance, or even oversight, by the legislative branch.

The highly politicized judicial branch recently refused to challenge President Macron's unilateral order.

This year, unions have held 15 Different million person marches to reflect the popular opposition, but they only added up to the usual annual Union led failure to stop more far right economic austerity.

The guarantee of brutality by the infamous French police, even at the price of strengthening the nation's image as a rubber bullet democracy, ensured that the marches would be attended only by the bravest souls.

The legitimacy of our democratic institutions first began to be called into question in 2005, when a majority of France voted against the European Constitution, only to see their decision brushed aside two years later.

Then the constant usage of the 49.3 executive decree which is a tool our European neighbors don't have to ram through laws, and also the repression of the yellow vests have created more realization that we need to establish a sixth republic.

Passerby 01

In France the Coronavirus era has now been definitively succeeded by the age of austerity. Part Two.

The neoliberal agenda of austerity has been tried almost all over the world and we know now that it has never worked over the long term.

All it does is make the average person poor and drastically weaken the country which implements it. Other methods are available and possible.

We need something other than what is obviously class warfare and which in our country is led by a former banker.

Passerby 02

A planned demonstration in Paris against parliament's decision was banned by police in what seems like a fitting final chapter in this spring's anti austerity struggle.

Despite year after year of record corporate profits, ballooning inequality and tax cuts for the wealthy, the government insists that the average citizen is doing too well and should foot the bill for reduced government services.

Those who disagree with this policy are effectively being told not to expect that protests and opinion polls carry much influence and that they should wait to vote in the next election in 2027.


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