Macron shuns parliament to force through French retirement Bill

French President Emmanuel Macron (AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

French President Emmanuel Macron has 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.

The risky move is expected to trigger a quick no-confidence motion in his government.

The decision was made 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.

The Bill is the flagship legislation of Mr Macron’s second term, but it has prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January.

As legislators gathered in the National Assembly on Thursday to vote on the Bill, the leftist members of the parliament started singing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, preventing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne from speaking and prompting the speaker to suspend the session.

The atmosphere was tense outside parliament as armed guards and riot police ringed the picturesque neighbourhoods around the National Assembly.

Earlier on 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 favours raising the retirement age.