Macron refuses to back down over controversial pension reforms and wants them implemented ‘by end of the year’

France’s president Emmanuel Macron has defiantly defended his decision to force a raising of the pension age through parliament, saying the reforms need to be implemented by the “end of the year”.

The pension reform bill has sparked protests across the country for weeks, and Mr Macron’s government has narrowly survived two no-confidence votes over the way it has been pushed through parliament. The president’s remarks, made in a television interview, were supposed to calm tensions, but instead drew an angry response from unions, who said a ninth day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes on Thursday would draw huge crowds in protest against what they described as Mr Macron’s “scorn”.

“Do you think I enjoy making this reform? No,” Mr Macron said, repeating throughout the interview his conviction that the pensions system needs to be modified in order to remain financially viable. “This reform isn’t a luxury, it’s not a pleasure, it’s a necessity,” he said.

Polls show that a broad majority of the French public is opposed to the legislation, which will raise the pension age by two years to 64.

Protests against the bill have drawn huge crowds in rallies organised by unions since January. Most have been peaceful, but anger has mounted since the government pushed the bill through parliament without a vote last week. The past six nights have seen fierce demonstrations across France, with bins set ablaze and scuffles between protesters and police.

Protesters also blocked railway stations in the southern cities of Nice and Toulouse on Wednesday.

“Between ... polls and the general interest of the country, I choose the general interest,” Mr Macron said, decrying the “extreme violence”, which he at one point compared to the storming of the US Capitol in January 2021.

Philippe Martinez, who leads the more hardline CGT union, told French media that Mr Macron was mocking workers in what he called an “outlandish” interview.

“The best response we can give the president is to have millions of people on strike and in the streets tomorrow,” Mr Martinez said.

Thursday’s strike will see rail traffic seriously disrupted, with airports also affected. Teachers are among the many professions who plan to walk out, while rolling strikes continue at oil depots and refineries and among rubbish collectors.

The protests could affect the planned state visit next week by King Charles, a Buckingham Palace source said.

The wave of protests represents the most serious challenge to the French president’s authority since the “yellow vests” revolt four years ago.

“He fanned the flames,” said Laurent Delaporte, a CGT union leader in the port of Le Havre, of Mr Macron’s interview. “How can we hear that the street has no legitimacy?”

The interview was broadcast on lunch-hour news bulletins, which are mostly watched by pensioners, the only demographic that is not set against the reform.

While the opposition has called for Mr Macron to fire his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, who has been at the forefront of the drive to introduce the legislation, the president gave her his support, saying that he had tasked her to carry out the work.

None of that convinced a group of union members watching the interview in Nice.

“We will be on the streets again to demonstrate against the pension reform and demand its withdrawal,” said one of them, CFDT union member Sophie Trastour.

Reuters