Uncollected garbage is piled up on a street in Paris on Wednesday during an ongoing strike by sanitation workers. Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron's pension plan are staging strikes and protests as the contested bill heads toward a vote.
Thomas Padilla / AP
Updated March 16, 2023 at 11:12 AM ET
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron shunned parliament and opted to push through a highly unpopular bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by triggering a special constitutional power on Thursday.
The risky move is expected to trigger a quick no-confidence motion in Macron's government.
The decision was made just a few minutes before the vote was scheduled, because the government had no guarantee that the bill would command a majority at the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.
French President Emmanuel Macron (shown here on Feb. 28) is facing a crucial test this week as the battle over his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age is set to reach a peak in the streets and at parliament, deepening a widely shared feeling he does not hear the French's grievances.
Stephane Mahe / AP
The bill is the flagship legislation of Macron's second term. The unpopular plan has prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January.
As lawmakers gathered in the National Assembly Thursday to vote on the bill, the leftist members of the parliament broke into the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, preventing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to speak and prompting the speaker to suspend the session.
The atmosphere was tense outside of the parliament as heavily armed guards and riot police ringed the picturesque neighborhoods around the National Assembly.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate adopted the bill in a 193-114 vote, a tally that was largely expected since the conservative majority of the upper house of parliament favors raising the retirement age.
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Protesters kicks a teargas canister as he clashes with police during a demonstration in Nantes, western France, on Wednesday.
Jeremias Gonzalez / AP