French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform will be pushed through parliament by decree, France's government announced on Saturday, bypassing the need for a vote after opposition legislators filed more than 40,000 amendments to the draft law.

The reform, considered to be the single greatest overhaul of France's pension system since World War II, has caused anger in France, with weeks of public-sector strikes and street protests ahead of this month's municipal elections. 

Macron's supporters in the National Assembly, who make up a majority, accused the French opposition of adding the large number of amendments to stall the pension bill's passage through parliament.

"I have decided to engage the government's responsibility on the bill creating a universal retirement system, not to put an end to debate but to end this period of non-debate," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told the lower house of parliament.

READ MORE French strike talks falter again as women claim they will be hit hardest by pension reforms

Philippe's announcement was met by anger from opposition legislators, particularly members of the left-wing France Unbowed party, whose representatives tabled most of the amendments. Party leader Jean-Luc Melenchon told broadcaster BFM TV, "though he puts on airs like an elegant, nonchalant dandy, the prime minister has extraordinarily violent methods."

France Unbowed has said it would file a motion of censure against the government, but due to the comfortable majority Macron's party holds in the National Assembly, it has little chance of passing in parliament.

READ MORE Controversial pension reform bill is approved in France

The reform attempts to merge 42 sector-specific pension regimes into a single points-based system, which unions and lawmakers say will ruin public services and amount to an attack on hard-earned benefits that help compensate for salaries below those in the private sector.

Macron's government claims the overhaul would make pension payment more transparent and help France prepare its economy for the demands of an increasingly ageing population.

Philippe's government also wants to create incentives to make people work longer, notably by raising the age at which a person could draw a full pension to 64 while maintaining the legal retirement age at 62.

Pressure on municipal elections

Macron's centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party has aimed to get the controversial pension bill through parliament before France's municipal elections this month, which analysts say could be a crucial test for the party.

The elections, held between 15 and 22 March, take place as LREM reels from a sex scandal that toppled its candidate for mayor of Paris, Benjamin Griveaux.

Griveaux, a close Macron ally and former government spokesman, pulled out of the running after a controversy over a leaked sex video. 

To replace him, the government chose Health Minister Agnes Buzyn, one of the most prominent defenders of the pension reform.

Some LREM lawmakers have suggested that forcing through the legislation may hurt the party in the polls, with critics describing the decision to do so as "undemocratic."

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