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PARIS — As Jordan Bardella edges closer to possibly replacing Marine Le Pen as France’s far-right presidential candidate, he is taking aim at one of her key economic promises.
Le Pen has made the preservation of France’s generous pension system a major campaign issue, pledging to roll back President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms and keep the country’s legal retirement age at 62. Bardella has suggested that policy should be up for debate.
Officials close to Bardella are now studying a plan to scrap a rule allowing individuals to retire on a full pension at 67, even if they haven’t paid in long enough to otherwise qualify, according to two National Rally party officials. Instead, workers would have to wait until they’ve contributed for 42 years, or opt to retire with a lower pension.
The pension issue is sharpening tensions between Le Pen’s old guard, worried about losing the party’s working-class base, and officials close to Bardella who argue the party needs to boost its economic credibility and win over moderate voters worried about France’s crumbling finances.
