Macron orders pension change without vote

Leftist MPs hold placards and sing La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, as Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne arrives to deliver a speech on a pension reform bill at the National Assembly in Paris on Thursday. (Photo: Reuters)

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday rammed a controversial pension reform through parliament without a vote, deploying a rarely used constitutional power that risks inflaming protests.

The move was an admission that his government lacked a majority in the National Assembly to pass the legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.