France at the mercy of a political crisis .
The forced approval of the pension reform bill has plunged the country into chaos . And Paris is preparing to face the new demonstrations expected over the weekend . Yesterday, the second evening of protests in Place de la Concorde , which was attended by several thousand people and which ended with the arrest of 61 people and damages , as well as the fire of construction materials and rubbish bins.
The previous day there were 310 arrests throughout France. Two motions of censure have already been presented against the government , which on Thursday made use of article 49.3 of the Constitution to force the adoption of the text on pensions without a vote.
Unions have called new demonstrations for today and tomorrow, as well as a ninth day of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday against the reform, which includes extending the retirement age from 62 to 64 . The recourse to Article 49.3 is almost unanimously seen as a setback for French President Emmanuel Macron , who has staked much of his political credit on this key reform of his second five-year term.
(Unioneonline/vf)