PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron’s government faces two motions of no confidence in the National Assembly on Monday after bypassing the lower house to push through a deeply unpopular change to the pension system.
Monday’s no-confidence votes look unlikely to pass, but the result could be tight. A successful no-confidence vote would fell the government and kill the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday called the votes “a moment of truth” for the government.
Violent unrest has erupted across the country and trade unions have promised to intensify their strike action, leaving Macron to face the most dangerous challenge to his authority since the “Yellow Vest” uprising over four years ago.
“It’s not a failure, it’s a total train wreck,” Laurent Berger, head of the moderate CFDT trade union told newspaper Liberation.