All reforms that are now at various stages of consideration in the French parliament will be suspended for the period of the novel coronavirus epidemic in the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said during his televised address to the nation on Monday night, APA reports citing TASS.
"Right now, all efforts of the parliament and the government should be directed at the fight against the epidemic," he said. "We are fighting it day and night, and nothing must distract us. In this respect, I resolved that all reforms that are now in the stage of discussion should be suspended, beginning with the pension reform."
The French leader went on to say that a bill "allowing the government to respond to this emergency" will be put forward during a session of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday and forwarded to the parliament on Friday.
‘I have already raised this matter in my conversation with chairs of the Senate and the National Assembly, to hold a vote on those texts as promptly as possible," Macron said.
"I call upon all political, public and trade union leaders, all French citizens to join this national unity, to create a union that would allow our country to overcome the crisis," he said.
Meanwhile, France’s healthcare authority announced that the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases topped 6,600, with 148 fatalities. In the past 24 hours, 21 people died of the infection and the number of infected persons increased by 1,210.
Macron also announced that internal travel restrictions will be introduced starting from March 17 and will be in place for at least 15 days.
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