The French Senate, parliament’s upper chamber, voted 195-112 on Saturday night to approve President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular pension reform plan, despite a seventh day of demonstrations.
The reform’s headline measure hikes the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, seen by many as unfair to people who started working young.
A committee will now hammer out a final draft, which will then be submitted to both the Senate and the National Assembly for a final vote, likely to take place on Thursday.
The outcome still seems uncertain in the lower chamber, where Macron’s party needs allies’ votes for a majority.
If the government fears that it won’t have enough votes, the text can still be pushed through without a parliamentary vote, via the so-called “49:3 procedure.”
An additional day of nationwide strikes and protests is planned for Wednesday.
Sources: CGTN
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