French Leader Vows to Punish Violent Protesters

By STEVEN ERLANGER and ALAN COWELL
NYT

PARIS — As unions called for new national protests, the French government acted Thursday evening to short-circuit a lengthy debate in the Senate on opposition amendments to a bill that would raise the retirement age.

With French drivers short of gasoline, ports blocked and intermittent clashes between demonstrators and the police, President Nicolas Sarkozy employed an article in the Constitution that will allow the government to prevent individual votes on the remaining 230 or so amendments to the bill.

There have been about 1,000 amendments, most of them an effort by the Socialist Party and other opposition parties to slow down the passage of the bill while the strikes continue. Under the streamlined procedure, a final vote on the bill is expected by the middle of next week.

The bill calls for gradual increases in the age for a minimum pension to 62 from 60 and for a full pension to 67 from 65. It provides some exceptions for workers in dangerous occupations, for those who began work at an early age and for mothers who take breaks to raise their children.

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