FRENCH communists have slammed the decision of President Emmanuel Macron to impose the highly unpopular Bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Mr Macron shunned parliament today by opting to push through his controversial plans by triggering a special constitutional power known as 49.3.

The rarely used manoeuvre may spark a vote of no confidence in Mr Macron’s government.

The Bill had already completed its passage through the senate earlier in the day but still required support from the national assembly.

But the government changed course just before the vote was scheduled in the assembly because it was unsure whether it had enough votes to pass the Bill.

The pensions Bill is the flagship legislation of Mr Macron’s second term but the deeply unpopular plan has sparked major strikes and millions of people have taken to the streets in protests across the country since January.

As lawmakers gathered in the national assembly to vote on the Bill, left-wing members of the parliament broke into the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, preventing Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne from speaking and prompting the speaker to suspend the session.

Once the session was back under way Ms Borne announced her plan to invoke 49.3, saying: “We cannot take a gamble on the future of our pensions system.”

Amid chaotic scenes and calls for a vote of no confidence in Mr Macron’s government French Communist Party general secretary Fabien Roussel said Mr Macron was “not worthy of our Fifth Republic.”

He added: “Parliament has been flouted and humiliated to the end.”

Mr Roussel called for a referendum vote on the pension plan.

“Let’s engage in a great popular battle alongside the unions.”

Meanwhile police in Paris “requisitioned” refuse collectors in the capital and threatened them with prosecution if they continue their week-long strike action against the pension plan.