France needs healing period, PM says, without offering tonic

France needs to “go through a healing period” after weeks of sometimes violent street protests against plans to raise the retirement age, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, though she offered no clear path out of the political turmoil.
The protests, which began as a trade union-led movement against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform, has coalesced widespread anger against Macron himself after he avoided putting the legislation to a final vote in parliament.
Although lower numbers in street marches across France on Thursday indicated the protests may be losing steam, the reform is deeply unpopular and underlined Macron’s weakened position now that he is shorn of a working majority in parliament.