PARIS, April 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Some 380,000 people protested across France on Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, a sharp fall on turnout at last week’s rallies, the interior ministry said.
It had counted 570,000 people last week. French union CGT chief Sophie Binet said over 1.5 million people marched Thursday for the 12th day of protests since January against the reform, again lower than unions’ estimate of almost two million for the last protest day on April 6.
The interior ministry said 42,000 people protested in Paris on Thursday, while unions led by the CGT gave a figure of 400,000 for the capital.
There were new violent clashes between police and protesters in western France, while demonstrators also stormed the headquarters of the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH in Paris.
All eyes will turn Friday to the Constitutional Council, a top court that will make its ruling on the pension legislation, the final hurdle before Macron can sign it into law.
The protest march in Paris passed by the Constitutional Council’s headquarters, opposite the Louvre museum in central Paris, which was protected by a phalanx of anti-riot police in body armour brandishing shields.
If the court largely approves the pension changes — as ministers are privately confident it will — Macron hopes to sign the changes into law immediately, clearing the way for them to enter into force before the end of 2023.
Having repeatedly snubbed calls for talks with union leaders in recent weeks, Macron said he would invite labour representatives for discussions once the court decision was published.
“The decision from the Constitutional Council on Friday will bring an end to the democratic and constitutional procedures,” Macron told reporters on a trip to the Netherlands on Wednesday, adding that public debate “will continue, for sure”.
Paris police have banned any further demonstration around the Constitutional Council until Saturday morning.
Strike momentum has been waning since the start of the movement in January, with employees reluctant to sacrifice salaries for what seems to many a losing battle.
Most trains were running on Thursday at state rail operator SNCF and the Paris public transport provider RATP, past bastions of strike participation.
In the evening, the capital’s police said it had made 47 arrests.
The Constitutional Council has the power to block parts of the legislation or even reject it wholesale.
The council will also rule on the admissibility of demands from left-wing lawmakers for a possible referendum on a counter draft law to limit the retirement age to 62. — NNN-AGENCIES
