Macron Bypasses Lawmakers to Pass France Pension Overhaul
French President Emmanuel Macron moved Saturday to pass his pension overhaul without a vote in the legislature, seeking to brush aside tens of thousands of amendments filed by opposition lawmakers to slow debate.
“It is clear that a discussion on the merits was never truly able to take place” in the legislature, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said, invoking an article of the French constitution allowing the executive branch to bypass the legislature. “I deeply regret it.”
The move escalated political strife over Mr. Macron’s pension plan, which already provoked the longest transport strike in French history. The decision came during a Saturday ministerial meeting on the coronavirus, after which the government announced a host of restrictions on public gatherings to limit the spread of the outbreak.
Opposition lawmakers from across the political spectrum immediately denounced the move, accusing Mr. Macron’s government of using the health crisis as cover to quash democratic debate.
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