PARIS — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday in his first speech to parliament that he plans to freeze an unpopular law that raised the minimum retirement age for most workers.

The decision is a major victory for the opposition Socialist Party, who had threatened to vote to topple Lecornu’s nascent government if he did not freeze the pension reform, which was passed in 2023 and is incrementally raising the minimum retirement age to 64 from 62 for most workers.

A representative from the Socialist Party is set to respond to Lecornu’s speech in parliament later Tuesday afternoon. Given most other opposition parties have vowed to try to topple Lecornu’s government, the Socialists’ next move will determine whether the 39-year-old PM has bought himself time or if France will fall deeper into the spiral of political chaos that began with the collapse of his first government, which lasted just 14 hours, last week.  

If Lecornu’s second government is taken down, it would be the fourth to collapse in less than a year — and it would dramatically raise the prospect of French President Emmanuel Macron dissolving parliament to break the deadlock.

“A suspension must be an opportunity. Debating the issue of pensions is not just a financial equation. It is an essential part of our social contract. And this contract, too, needs overhauling,” Lecornu said.

This developing story is being updated.