Since April 14, 2023, the date of enactment of the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron has continued to accumulate travel. Indeed, after having spoken for the first time during a speech broadcast live to the newspaper of TF1 and France 2, the president went to meet the French. As soon as the law was published in the Official Journal, on the night of April 14 to 15, the latter reaffirmed its positions and the need for this law. However, this is not the case with the opposition.
The elected representatives of the opposition, as well as the unions expressed their anger at the decision of the Elders of the Constitutional Council having validated the essentials of the law. Thus, Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT, had announced the future mobilizations planned by the inter-union. The next will take place on Monday, May 1, Labor Day. Nevertheless, other unions have called a two-day strike. Indeed, the four SNCF unions organized two days of “railway anger” on April 20 and April 28. On the side of the National Assembly, elected officials from the NUPES are preparing the rest.
As of Sunday April 16, Eric Coquerel announced the preparation of a new motion of censure to try to delete the text of the pension reform. The party then began discussions with the group Libertés, Indépendants, Outre-mer et Territoires (LIOT) led by Charles de Courson. The latter had filed the previous motion of censure at the time of the use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution by Elisabeth Borne.
The unions and the elected representatives of the opposition therefore intend to continue to mobilize until the deletion of the text. But, they are not the only ones. Indeed, French citizens also want to show their dissatisfaction with Emmanuel Macron’s decisions. At the time of his speech, small groups gathered in Savoie for a concert of saucepans. The objective was to show that they do not wish to listen to Emmanuel Macron’s speech and that they firmly opposed his choices, according to France Bleu. This was only the beginning of hostilities. Thus, in the letter unveiled by RTL, the president returns to the last trips led by the inhabitants.
Since this first concert of saucepans, the president has gone to meet the French. However, not everything went as planned. On Wednesday April 19, he then left for Sélestat, in the Bas-Rhin, where he was booed. He then added the next day that “eggs and saucepans are for cooking”, as collected by FranceInfo. Since then, the movements of elected members of the Renaissance party have multiplied and the anger of the French has not diminished.
Thus, while Emmanuel Macron returned in a letter addressed to his party on his first year in office, the latter insisted on the importance of continuing to travel. He then begins by thanking his party for their support before addressing the field visits. “In the coming weeks, like me, you will once again travel the country, proud of who you are and of what our country has become over the past six years with you and thanks to you”, he addresses to his group. But, why is the president looking to bank on these visits?
In this letter sent to 200,000 supporters of Emmanuel Macron, the president returns to these trips rich in twists and turns. He then evokes the need to continue to make field visits so as not to leave the voice only to the opposition. “Nothing would be worse than letting the voices of progressives be drowned out by the cries of demagogues,” he announces. He thus refers to the concerts of saucepans that the elected officials of the party could hear during their last trip.
“I want you to have the courage to say what we have the courage to do,” he finally added. It thus reaffirms once again its intention not to abandon the pension reform. In addition, the pension reform should come into force from 2023.
