French pension reform opponents fail to pass repeal bill

PARIS

Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform have failed to pass a repeal bill. It was their latest effort to maintain the retirement age at 62. Centrist opposition group LIOT decided to withdraw its bill a couple of hours after the heated debate started because the text had been emptied of its initial content. Macron’s unpopular reform provides that the legal retirement age will go up to 64 by 2030. Macron’s centrist party allied with the conservative Republicans to push back the opposition’s efforts. Leftist lawmakers said they would prompt a confidence vote, to be held at the beginning of next week. Macron’s government survived previous confidence votes.