French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has activated a special procedure to push her landmark pension reform bill through the National Assembly without a vote amid screams and chanting of anti-reform posters from left-wing lawmakers.

The move, based on the so-called Article 49.3 of the constitution, would secure the approval of a bill raising the retirement age by two years to 64, but shows that President Emmanuel Macron and his government have failed to secure the required majority. Parliament.

When Bourne arrived at the National Assembly to announce the special procedure, she was greeted with hoots. The meeting was adjourned for two minutes as left-wing lawmakers playing the national anthem prevented Bourne from speaking.

Some were holding signs reading “Not at 64”.

When the meeting resumed, Bourne took the floor, but her speech was largely drowned out by the cheers and cries of opposition deputies and cries of “resignation” in a rare chaotic scene in the French parliament.

The move is likely to further anger unions, protesters and left-wing opposition parties who see pension reform as unfair and unnecessary.

“This government is unworthy of our Fifth Republic, the French Republic. Until the last moment, parliament was ridiculed, humiliated, ”said Fabian Roussel, head of the French Communist Party.

Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure told Reuters earlier on Thursday that such a move could spark “uncontrollable fury” after weeks of strikes and protests.

Opposition parties are likely to demand a vote of no confidence in the government, but this is unlikely to pass as most conservative lawmakers are likely to support the government.

Macron and his government say raising the retirement age is necessary to bring the pension system out of the red by the end of the decade.

The failure to overhaul the pension system with a parliamentary majority is a blow to Macron’s ability to negotiate compromises in parliament and push for new reforms.

Source: Reuters.