New videos surfaced across Twitter on Thursday apparently showing French riot police removing their helmets and joining protesters amid the ongoing protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms.
The video allegedly showed French police in riot gear taking off their helmets to join the protesters as the crowds cheered them on.
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Meanwhile, French firefighters also joined the protesters as videos of them walking through cheering crowds also surfaced on Thursday.
They’ve been filmed holding flares while walking through cheering crowds.
However, many earlier videos showed riot police beating demonstrators in what appeared to be heavy-handed tactics designed to silence dissidents.
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The news came as French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin claimed protesters were violent “thugs” causing havoc across the country.
Earlier this month, Emmanuel Macron used special powers to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a vote.
Macron invoked a constitutional power to impose the bill, ingoring the will of the French people.
Without a majority in the parliament, Macron elected to activate the ‘nuclear option,’ Article 49.3.
According to The Local:
‘The government can only use Article 49.3 once per parliamentary sessions on non-financial bills. It can be used an unlimited number of times on financial bills such as the budget. The other condition is that the bill becomes law, unless a majority of MPs in parliament support a vote of no-confidence in the government (known in French as a motion de censure).’
Astonishingly, the French National Assembly rejected a no-confidence vote against Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, despite the massive uproar against he pension plans.
The motion’s defeat means the Prime Minister won’t have to resign, and Macron’s tyrannical pension overhaul will be signed into law.
This defeat of the motion means that the Prime Minister will not have to resign and that Macron’s tyrannical pension overhaul will become law.
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