PARIS (AP) \u2014 A parody photo appearing on protest signs and online in France shows\u00a0President Emmanuel Macron\u00a0sitting on piles of garbage. It\u2019s both a reference to the\u00a0trash going uncollected\u00a0with Paris sanitation workers on strike \u2014 and to what many French people think about their leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron had hoped his push to\u00a0raise the retirement age from 62 to 64\u00a0would cement his legacy as the president who transformed France\u2019s economy for the 21st century. Instead, he finds\u00a0his leadership contested, both in parliament and on the streets of major cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His brazen move to force a pension reform bill through without a vote has infuriated the political opposition and could hamper his government\u2019s ability to pass legislation for the remaining four years of his term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Demonstrators hoisted the parody photo at protests after Macron chose at the last minute Thursday to invoke the\u00a0government\u2019s constitutional power\u00a0to pass the bill without a vote at the National Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his first public comment on the issue since then, the 45-year-old leader expressed his wish for the bill to \u201creach the end of its democratic path in an atmosphere of respect for everyone,\u2033 according to a statement Sunday from his office provided to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since becoming president in 2017, Macron often has been accused of arrogance and being out of touch. Perceived as \u201cthe president of the rich,\u2033 he stirred resentment for telling a jobless man he only needed to \u201ccross the street\u201d to find work and by suggesting some French workers were \u201clazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Macron\u2019s government has alienated citizens \u201cfor a long time\u201d to come by using the special authority it has under Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to impose a widely unpopular change, said Brice Teinturier, deputy director general of the Ipsos poll institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the situation\u2019s only winners are far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party, \u201cwhich continues its strategy of both \u2018getting respectable\u2019 and opposing Macron,\u201d and France\u2019s labor unions. Le Pen was runner-up to Macron in the country\u2019s last two presidential elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the garbage piles get bigger and the smell from them worse, many people in Paris blame Macron, not the striking workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron repeatedly said\u00a0he was convinced the French retirement system needed modifying to keep it financed. He says other proposed options, like increasing the already heavy tax burden, would push investors away, and that decreasing the pensions of current retirees was not a realistic alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The public displays of displeasure may weigh heavily on his future decisions. The spontaneous, sometimes\u00a0violent protests\u00a0that erupted in Paris and across the country in recent days have contrasted with the\u00a0largely peaceful demonstrations and strikes\u00a0previously organized by France\u2019s major unions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron\u2019s reelection to a second term last April bolstered his standing as a senior player in Europe. He campaigned on\u00a0a pro-business agenda, pledging to address the pension issue and saying the French must \u201cwork longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June, Macron\u2019s centrist alliance lost its majority in the lower house of parliament, though it still holds more seats than other political parties. He said at the time that his government wanted to \u201clegislate in a different way,\u201d based on compromises with a range of political groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, conservative lawmakers have agreed to support some bills that fit with their own policies. But tensions over the pension plan, and widespread lack of trust among ideologically diverse parties, may end attempts at seeking compromise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron\u2019s political opponents in the National Assembly filed two no-confidence motions Friday against the government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Government officials are hoping to survive a vote on the motions set for Monday because the opposition is divided, with many Republicans expected not to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a motion passes, however, it would be a big blow for Macron: the pension bill would be rejected and his Cabinet would have to resign. In that case, the president would need to appoint a new Cabinet and find his ability to get legislation passed weakened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Macron notably hopes to propose new measures designed to bring France\u2019s unemployment rate down to 5%, from 7.2% now, by the end of his second and final term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the no-confidence motions fail, Macron could enact the higher retirement age but try to appease his critics with a government reshuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Either way, Macron would keep his job until his term runs out in 2027, and retain substantial powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense. As commander-in-chief of the armed forces, he can make decisions about France\u2019s support for Ukraine and other global issues without parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France\u2019s strong presidential powers are a legacy from Gen. Charles de Gaulle\u2019s desire to have a stable political system for the Fifth Republic he established in 1958.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another option in the hands of the president is to dissolve the National Assembly and call for an early parliamentary election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That scenario appears unlikely for now, since the unpopularity of the pension plan means Macron\u2019s alliance would be unlikely to secure a majority of seats. And if another party won, he would have to appoint a prime minister from the majority faction, empowering the government to implement policies that diverge from the president\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Le Pen said she would welcome a dissolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Mathilde Panot, a lawmaker from the leftist Nupes coalition, said with sarcasm Thursday that it was a \u201cvery good\u201d idea for Macron to disband the Assembly and trigger an election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI believe it would be a good occasion for the country to reaffirm that yes, they want the retirement age down at 60,\u201d Panot said. \u201cThe Nupes is always available to govern.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS (AP) \u2014 A parody photo appearing on protest signs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2355"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2357,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2355\/revisions\/2357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viewworld.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}