French President Emmanuel Macron was booed by people in eastern France on Wednesday as he left Paris for his first trip after signing the unpopular pensions reform into law. Allies had told Macron to meet with voters after signing the reform, as he was seen as too reclusive to the public. The pensions reform had been met with massive protests in France lasting months before being signed into law.
Upon arrival in Selestat in the Alsace region, some locals chanted slogans like ‘Macron resign!’ and heckled the 45-year-old president. One man accused Macron of having a ‘corrupt government on a scale we have never seen before,’ adding, ‘You will fall soon, you’ll see.’ Macron responded by saying that the man’s ideas were ‘unfair.’
Macron later told reporters that incidents like this won’t stop him from visiting different regions of France, saying that he heard the people’s anger and that he is not deaf to it. Dozens of protesters banged kitchenware ahead of his arrival in the village of Muttersholtz and had to be pushed back by police.
When asked by a journalist about the booing, the president replied that he had ‘had it worse.’ However, there were also people who encouraged Macron and told him to ‘keep going.’ Macron commented that everyone should be free to express themselves, but that ‘it’s not saucepans that will enable France to move forward.’
The controversial pension reform has increased the retirement age in France from 62 to 64. There were massive protests against it, during which time Macron made very few public appearances. Despite the law now being in effect, political opponents and trade unions have urged protesters to maintain their campaign and have called for a new day of mass protest on May 1.
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