A key move for survival: French PM backs suspending pensions reform

France’s Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Tuesday backed the suspension of an unpopular 2023 pensions reform, in a key move to bolster his cabinet’s survival and draw his country out of political crisis.

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President of Rassemblement National parliamentary group Marine Le Pen reacts as France's Prime Minister addresses general political remarks to members of Parliament at the French National Assembly, lower house of parliament, in Paris, on Tuesday. — AFP

(AFP)

France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, has been battling a deep political crisis since President Emmanuel Macron last year called snap elections to consolidate his power but instead lost his majority.

After parliament toppled his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures, Lecornu, the president’s seventh premier since 2017, is battling to keep his cabinet alive long enough to pass a much-needed austerity budget by the end of the year.

The Socialists, a swing group in parliament, had threatened to vote to topple the government if he did not immediately suspend the pensions reform that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.