ISTANBUL 

France’s National Assembly on Thursday approved a non-binding resolution calling for the repeal of the 2023 pension reform, which raised the legal retirement age to 64.

The resolution, introduced by the Communist-led Democratic and Republican Left (GDR) group, passed with 198 votes in favor and 35 against, French public broadcaster BFMTV reported.

Although the text carries no legal weight, its backers view it as a formal expression of parliamentary opposition and a means to increase pressure on the government.

"French people have not turned the page," said Stephane Peu, GDR group leader, referencing a recent Ifop poll commissioned by trade union CGT which showed that two-thirds of the French population support repealing the reform.

The pension reform was passed in March 2023 through Article 49.3 of the French Constitution, allowing the government to bypass a vote in the assembly, triggering mass protests and a narrowly survived no-confidence motion.

Unlike previous attempts by other opposition groups to reverse the reform, which were blocked on financial or procedural grounds, the GDR’s proposal, being a resolution rather than a legislative bill, was immune to such hurdles.

Left-wing parties, including France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialists, and the Greens, supported the resolution, along with the far-right National Rally (RN).

However, RN deputy Theo Bernhardt criticized the left for not backing a similar RN-led initiative last October, adding: “Without the RN, no repeal can happen.”

The presidential camp, meanwhile, rejected the resolution. Renaissance MP Stephanie Rist called it "lazy and sterile," while Labor Minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet insisted demographic pressures made pension reform inevitable.

“This is the third time in six months the assembly has debated the 2023 reform,” she said, noting that no government has ever reversed past pension reforms, including the unpopular 2010 reform under former President Nicolas Sarkozy.