Total chaos ensued, the capital turned into a war zone, fierce clashes PHOTO/VIDEO

Total chaos ensued, the capital turned into a war zone, fierce clashes PHOTO/VIDEO

Police used tear gas and water cannons against demonstrators on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, where around 7,000 people had gathered to protest pension reforms. As reported by Reuters, the protesters threw stones at the police, who then intervened to break up the groups of protest participants.

Protests were held in almost all major cities of France.

French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne had earlier launched a special procedure to pass the unpopular pension reform law in the National Assembly without a vote, amid shouts and chants from left-wing MPs waving anti-pension reform banners. Using the so-called Article 49.3 of the Constitution, the adoption of a bill to raise the retirement age by two years - from 62 to 64 - was secured, but it shows that President Emmanuel Macron and his government failed to secure a sufficient majority in parliament, Reuters reported.

The agency estimates that the opposition parties will probably ask for a vote of confidence in the government, but that it is unlikely that the government will fall because the majority of conservative MPs will probably support it.

Macron and his government argue that raising the retirement age is necessary to maintain the pension system, but his failure to get the pension reform passed in parliament is a blow to his efforts to implement new reforms, according to Reuters.