Far from constituting an exception, March 16 marks the 100th time under France’s Fifth Republic that the executive has drawn on special powers to force through an unpopular measure, writes Mathias Bernard.
When it bypassed Parliament and forced through pension system changes, Macron’s government exposed the anti-democratic deterioration in the Fifth Republic’s dual-executive system, writes Muhammed Shabeer.
The mobilization on Tuesday was the latest demonstration against a government initiative that is currently being discussed in the French Senate. While the bill calls for raising the retirement age, protesters want it lowered.