French president uses special power to enact pension bill without vote

French President Emmanuel Macron bypassed parliament and voted to push through an unpopular bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by invoking special constitutional powers on Thursday.

The risky move is expected to trigger a swift motion of no confidence in Macron’s government.

The decision was made just minutes before the election was scheduled, as the government did not guarantee that the bill would secure a majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.

The bill is flagship legislation for Macron’s second term. The unpopular plan has sparked massive strikes and protests across the country since January.

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‘What happened?’: Uncollected garbage in Paris shocks tourists

Tourists come across overflowing trash cans blocking sidewalks in the streets of Paris on Thursday. Most of the city’s waste remains uncollected as garbage collectors attack the French government’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64.

As lawmakers gathered in the National Assembly Thursday to vote on the bill, left-leaning lawmakers stepped in Marseillaisethe French national anthem, prevented Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne from speaking and asked the speaker to suspend the session.

The atmosphere was tense outside parliament as armed guards and riot police cordoned off the picturesque surroundings of the National Assembly.

Earlier on Thursday, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 193-114, a number that was widely expected as the majority of conservatives in the lower house of parliament voted to increase the retirement age.

Macron’s alliance lost its parliamentary majority last year, forcing the government to count on conservative lawmakers to pass the bill. Left and right-wing MPs are fiercely opposed and conservatives are divided, making the outcome unpredictable.

French leaders want to raise the retirement age so that workers put more money into the system, which the government says is running into a deficit.

Macron has promoted pension changes as central to his vision to make the French economy more competitive.

Nearly 500,000 people protested against the bill across the country on Wednesday.

Economic challenges led to widespread unrest in western Europe. In England on Wednesday, teachers, junior doctors and public transport staff got higher wages to match rising prices. And Spain’s left-wing government joined with unions to announce a “historic” deal to save the pension system by raising social security costs for higher earners.