President Macron is being urged to address the French people after days of often violent protests against his decision to force a rise in the pension age through parliament without a vote. The unrest has raised fears of a rerun of the yellow vest movement that paralysed parts of the country for months during his first term as president.
Macron, whose government faces two votes of confidence on Monday, has remained silent since Thursday, when Élisabeth Borne, his prime minister, was booed by MPs after announcing that the reform would be passed by decree. The decision to dodge the vote was opposed by 80 per cent of people — and even half of the president’s supporters, said Bernard Sananès, head of the pollsters Elabe.