Macron: I'm not interested in my rating, because I won't run for president anyway
A week-long mass protests in France against raising the retirement age cover an increasing number of cities. Following Rennes, riots are reported to have engulfed Nantes and Lorient.
In Paris and other cities of France, mass protest demonstrations also do not subside, often accompanied by pogroms, arsons and clashes with law enforcement officers. At the same time, law enforcement officers themselves behave far from being democratic ... Tear gas in the face, rubber batons, water cannons, severe detentions with kicking of those lying on the ground.
In parallel with the protests in the capital of France, the strike of garbage collectors continues, in connection with which the streets of Paris are literally littered with waste bags. Rats have become an integral attribute of even the central quarters of Paris. The suburbs have become a continuous street dump.
In addition, the trade unions of workers of ports, oil refineries, gas stations, public transport and educational institutions announced strikes.
Despite massive protests, French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed to pass a controversial bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Macron said that, given that he will not run in the next presidential election, he is not concerned about the momentary results of public opinion polls, and he is ready to sacrifice his rating in favor of the public interest and intends to make a highly unpopular decision. This caused even more anger from the protesters.
Despite Macron's statements about the need for pension reform, trade unions, representatives of opposition parties and other political opponents of the French president insist on its abolition and support mass protests of citizens.
The French opposition press reminds Macron of his words, uttered in 2020, when the French leader spoke out in support of mass protests in Lebanon, saying that "the revolution does not happen on someone's orders, it is made by people." Commenting on the protests that are taking place in his country, the French president expresses diametrically opposed ideas, stating that "the crowd has no legitimacy and does not have the right to encroach on the representatives of the people."
These two statements by Macron are a prime example of the double standard policy often practiced in Western countries.
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