French Prime Minister Manuel Valls invokes constitutional article to push through labor reforms

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls speaks at the National Assembly during a debate on the government's planned labor law reforms in Paris, July 5, 2016. (AFP photo)

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has used a constitutional article to bypass the parliament and push through the contested labor law reforms.
Valls on Tuesday invoked the so-called 49-3 provision in order to force through the package of reforms, which the Socialist government says is needed to tackle rising unemployment.
“This country is too used to mass unemployment,” Valls said while addressing the parliament amid boos and walkouts.
"It is not posturing, it's not intransigence," he said, adding that the move would be in the "general interest" of the French people.
Valls said his government has accepted more than 800 amendments to the labor legislation in a bid to ease public and union concerns about potential job insecurity that could come with the reforms. He said, however, that a “coalition of immobility” had stymied the reform drive.
The French government had once used the 49-3 provision over the labor reforms as it could not count on the votes of the left flank of the Socialist Party.
Members of the parliament will have 24 hours to decide whether to call a vote of no-confidence in the Valls administration. The right-wing opposition, however, has ruled out such a move.
Reports suggest the public is also against the final passage of the reform, as an opinion poll published last week found that 73 percent of the French would be “shocked” if the government resorted to the constitutional measure.
Over the past few months, France has been witnessing violent demonstrations and industrial actions over the changes to the labor law.
Unions are also opposed to reforms, saying the government wants to make it easier and less costly for employers to lay off workers, calling the reforms an attack on the rights of workers.
President Francois Hollande stays defiant in the face of protests, vowing to go ahead with the controversial plans despite unions’ pressure to ditch the law.