For Olivier Véran, opinion polls show that “a large majority of French people consider that a reform is necessary”, because “there is fear of imbalance, of a breathlessness in the pension system”.
Olivier Véran, the government spokesman, said on France Inter on Sunday that a “large majority of French people consider that a reform is necessary” concerning the pension system.
“A part of the French remain mobilized because they do not want, and we understand this, to work gradually longer. This does not mean that they do not want reform,” he explained.
Before continuing: “In the opinion polls, you have a large majority of French people who consider that a reform is necessary. There is fear of imbalance, of the pension system running out of steam. On the other hand, none of the reforms likely to achieve a balanced budget by 2030 do not find favor with a majority of French people.
Between 963,000 and 2.5 million demonstrators
According to the latest Elabe poll for BFMTV, published last Wednesday, 72% of French people want the protest movement around the government’s pension reform to continue. More than 4 out of 10 French people (41% of those questioned) even want the movement to harden, in the form of greater mobilization, blockades, renewable strikes…
This Saturday, some 963,000 people marched on Saturday in France against pension reform, including 93,000 in Paris, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Figures up from Tuesday, when authorities counted 757,000 protesters nationwide. The CGT claims for its part more than 2.5 million demonstrators in the country.
A new day of mobilization is expected on February 16. The unions also called for “toughening up the movement” and “bring France to a halt” from Tuesday March 7if the government does not withdraw its “unfair and brutal” bill by then.
