Protests erupt in France over Macron’s retirement age push

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to increase the retirement age without a vote, sparking protests on the streets of Paris.

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World News

March 17, 2023 - 2:12 PM

The historic move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen in the United States in recent years, and the vote during a special joint session of France’s parliament drew a long standing ovation among lawmakers. Photo by Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images/TNS

PARIS (AP) — Angry protesters took over the streets in Paris on Friday, trying to pressure lawmakers to bring down French President Emmanuel Macron’s government and doom the unpopular retirement age increase he’s trying to impose without a vote in the National Assembly.

A day after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked a special constitutional power to skirt a vote in the chaotic lower chamber, lawmakers on the right and left filed no-confidence motions that are expected to be voted on early next week.

Crowds gathered throughout the day Friday, halting cars along a Paris ring road and blocking university campuses. Sanitation workers extended their 12-day strike, leaving piles of foul-smelling rubbish across the capital and blockading Europe’s largest incineration site.

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