In his first public statement since ramming through his unpopular pensions reform without a parliamentary vote, Macron defended both the policy and the method and tried to calm public anger that has sparked spontaneous nightly protests from Paris to Rennes. “We must move forward,” he said in a televised interview on Wednesday. “We have to restore calm and rebuild a parliamentary and reform agenda by re-engaging with labor unions and any political parties who are ready to do so.” Macron’s approval ratings have fallen 4 percentage points in the past month to 28%, according to an IFOP poll, their lowest since the gilets jaunes crisis.
‘Master of clocks’: Can Macron Wait Out a Crisis of His Own Making?
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Though not yet at the scale of the 2018 gilets jaunes protest, France is facing widespread protest after President Macron pushed through an unpopular pension reform without a parliamentary vote. @FinancialTimes



