While the French are rioting against Macron’s pension reform, we Maltese accepted the increase in the pension age without one single protest!
By Marica Micallef
“France’s disrupter-in-chief Emmanuel Macron is charging ahead and tackling one of the nation’s many sacred cows: raising the retirement age — despite stiff opposition from trade unions and swathes of the French public.”[1]
The broad strokes of the pension reform controversially aim at increasing the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 or 65 years old. Macron has “vowed to reform France’s state pensions system and bring it in line with European neighbours such as Spain and Germany where retirement age is 65 to 67 years old.”
“We [actually he should have said you] need to work more,” said Macron in his New Year’s Eve address, meaning, that you are being turned into a denser slave of their system.
To add insult to injury, this reform bill comes at a difficult time as households and businesses face inflation and higher energy and fuel bills. All this, has drawn criticism from trade unions across the board, planning nationwide protests and strike action, after Macron’s government lengthy talks with them were largely fruitless. Debates in France’s National Assembly are also expected to be heated, with both the left and right criticizing Macron’s plans to reform the country’s public pension system.
And the protests which were feared, are now happening, with so far 200+ well-attended protests, and we all know, that French protests tend to get more radical and violent. Crowds clashed with police in many places, who used riot control measures such as tear gas and batons to clear streets against vastly superior numbers.
As a result, public transportation was severely disrupted, with various modes of public transportation being brought to a halt in Paris, Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, and Nice, and the Eiffel Tower was closed to visitors as the protests spread. The French rail authority SNCF reported “severe disruption” across the country.
Many schools were also closed. According to France’s education ministry, over 40% of primary school teachers and one-third of high school teachers are striking, forcing many schools to close for the day and possibly weeks ahead.
According to the unions, over one million people participated in the Thursday 19th January protests and strikes, and they intend to keep up the pressure until Macron’s bill is defeated.
But our Times of Malta decided to put up a cover photo with hardly any people to decrease the effects of these strikes on Macron presidency.
The major French unions are now calling for more protests and a nationwide strike for January 31st.
In Malta, back in 2004, Dr Laurence Gonzi, presiding as prime minister at the time, had already informed the Maltese gentiles that “retirement age must rise”:
Malta then underwent this pension reform back in 2006, with Prime Minister Laurence Gonzi and his GonziPN increasing pensionable age to 65, saying that “if the pensionable age does not increase again, the country would collapse”, thanks to the economy of the woke and the liberal throttle-bottoms and politicasters. So much so, that after they mess up with our economy (the problem), they come up with a reaction, which is that, as Gonzi had stated, to reduce the deficit during 2011, and what is the solution? That you must work till the age of 65! Gonzi had also stated that “Malta also needs to ensure the sustainability of pensions by binding retirement age to developments in life expectancy (meaning that Malta should extend it)” as part of the many sustainable goals that the Elite come up with.[2]
In 2011, PL had accused him of “supporting European Council recommendations to raise the pensionable age” – because bowing one’s head to the EU is a must for any Castille chieftain, whether one is wearing the blue or the red sash. In fact, Gonzi had added that “we (that is me and you) need to ensure the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism Treaty by end of 2012.”
And yet, PL kept this reform when it was given governance. And yet, the PL now is also endorsing the same woke and liberal agenda and bowing down, as a colony does, to the dictates of the same EU, the WEF and the New World Order!
I don’t recall the Maltese, blue and red, rioting and demonstrating when the pensionable age went up from 61 to 65 and storming Castille and yet the French, are ready to storm Bastille again!
[1] https://www.politico.eu/article/macron-government-unveils-unpopular-pension-reform/
[2] https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/11205/gonzi-wants-to-increase-pensionable-age-labour#.Y86buXbMJPZ