Bid to overturn French pension reform via referendum rejected

A protestor stands in clouds of tear gas amid clashes with riot police during a demonstration on May Day (Labour Day), to mark the international day of workers, more than a month after the government pushed an unpopular pensions reform act. Credit: AFP File Photo

France's constitutional court rejected a bid Wednesday to organise a referendum on President Emmanuel Macron's bitterly contested pension reform.

Around 250 left-wing opposition lawmakers had requested the public vote in a bid to thwart Macron raising the retirement age to 64 from 62, which has sparked four months of protests and strikes.

The application was turned down by the constitutional court on the grounds that the request did not meet the required criteria for a referendum, it said in a statement.

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Macron has signed the pension reform into law, with the changes set to take effect later this year.

Opposition lawmakers have not given up on their efforts to thwart him, with a bill set to be presented in parliament on June 8 that seeks to water down key parts of the new pensions law.

But even if approved in the lower house, where the ruling party is in a minority, the bill would be highly unlikely to clear the upper-house Senate.

Trade unions have called for a 14th day of nationwide protests in June.

In response to the constitutional court's decision, hundreds of protesters took the streets in the western city of Nantes.

Some rubbish bins were set alight and at least one person was arrested.