Emmanuel Macron, the current President of France, and his government on March 16 rammed a pension reform via the parliament that had no vote. This led to angry protests in Paris as well as multiple other cities and more turmoil in the legislature. Image Credits: Reuters

The passage of legislation to hike the age of retirement from 62 to 64 without a majority by leveraging a special constitutional power was carried out. The senate adopted the bill but there was reluctance from the right-wing opposition MPs to side with the President meant that the government faced defeat in the lower house. Image credits: Reuters

“We can’t take the risk of seeing 175 hours of parliamentary debate come to nothing,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told MPs, whilst announcing the move amid protests from opposition MPs who also sang the national anthem. Image Credits: Reuters

“It’s a total failure for the government,” far-right leader Marine Le Pen told reporters. “From the beginning, the government fooled itself into thinking it had a majority.” As per the polls, two-thirds of French people oppose the pension overhaul. “When a president has no majority in the country, no majority in the National Assembly, he must withdraw his bill,” added Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure. Image Credits: Reuters

(With inputs from AFP)