Over 960,000 people marched in Paris, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes and other cities of France in the fourth round of nationwide demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to reform the country’s pension system.
The protest, going on since the last month, saw the highest number of participants this weekend, in the French capital, with approximately 93,000 individuals counted by authorities demonstrating against the government’s controversial reform plan of increasing the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The weekend protests brought out individuals, including younger people, who opposed the pension reform but were unable to participate in the previous three-weekday demonstrations.
“We often hear that we should be too young to care, but with rising inflation, and soaring electricity prices, this reform will impact our families,” said the 18-year-old Elisa Haddad, “It is my first demonstration because I couldn’t attend with uni. It is important that the voice of (France’s) parents and students is heard.”
Police were out in force across France on Saturday for the strikes that have caused disruptions in public transport and refinery deliveries, as workers continue to walk out and unions calling for large-scale public demonstrations.
During the first round of strikes, which started on January 19, over a million people participated in the protests as citizens took to the streets against the proposed pension reforms.
Protesters hoped to keep up the pressure on the government to back down, and further action is planned for Feb. 16.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron remains firm in his belief that the proposed changes are necessary to overhaul an ailing system, despite some of the government’s experts stating that the pension system is in good condition and would likely reach a balanced budget without reforms.
The walkouts started on the day following the beginning of the parliamentary debate on the contentious pension reform bill, which is expected to be a test of Emmanuel Macron’s capacity to bring about change in the National Assembly without a working majority.