France puts pension reform on hold

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Tuesday announced he would suspend a much-debated plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, in a move aimed at preventing his fragile minority government from being toppled.

- By SAMUEL PETREQUIN

THIBAULT CAMUS Associated Press FRENCH Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu speaks to the lower house of parliament in Paris on Tuesday.

After a week of political turmoil, the newly reappointed Lecornu said in a policy speech at the National Assembly that the law, a flagship initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, would be put on hold until after the next presidential election in 2027.

On Thursday, Lecornu will face two no-confidence motions, one from the hard-left France Unbowed and the other from the far-right National Rally. The two parties do not hold enough seats to topple Lecornu’s government on their own, but the prime minister could be ousted if the Socialists and others on the left join forces with them.

The Socialist Party, which is not part of the governing coalition, had demanded the law be repealed.

Boris Vallaud, president of the Socialist group in the National Assembly, said his colleagues were ready to take a “gamble,” making clear they would not vote the no-confidence motions. Vallaud called the suspension a “first step” toward scrapping the law.