/Pogled.info/ Already the ninth nationwide strike against raising the retirement age ended in pogroms. The unions brought several million people to the streets. About how the French fight the government – in the material.
A can of gasoline
The political and social conflict against the background of Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform has not subsided in France for more than two months. It flared up with new force after the authorities passed the bill, bypassing the National Assembly with the help of Article 49.3 of the constitution – the responsibility of the Prime Minister.
MPs raised votes of no confidence in the government, but Elizabeth Bourne’s cabinet opposed it – nine votes were not enough to pass it.
The “forcible” implementation of the law, against which according to polls about 70% of French people, caused an uproar: unauthorized protests and no longer peaceful demonstrations, but riots and clashes with the police, began across the country.
On Wednesday, the French president gave an interview to national television for the first time since the debate on the bill began.
Macron said he would not back down, he would not roll back the reform and he would not sack the government. Raising the retirement age also does not please him, but it has to be done, and there is no alternative. Therefore, he has no regrets.
The head of state added that he is ready to put up with unpopularity, because he chose the latter between polls and the interests of the country.
There is nothing new in the President’s speech. He just repeated what he said before, literally ignoring what is happening these days on the street and not answering the questions that are constantly being asked by his political opponents and the public. “Live from the parallel reality,” as one observer remarked.
The opposition and unions accused Macron of lying, hypocrisy, arrogance and an absolute unwillingness to listen and hear his fellow citizens. And the outraged youths again took to the streets.
“When a conflict of such a level rages in a country, the role of the president of the republic is to calm the situation. Maybe not on purpose, but he did not just add fuel to the fire – he threw a can of gasoline into the fire,” said the leader of the largest trade union “General Confederation of Labor” Philip Martinez.
Pogroms in Paris and beyond
Union leaders have warned that the actions of the president and the government will inevitably provoke a radicalization of the protests, and the organizers of the demonstrations will not be able to contain the crowd. And so it did: Thursday’s ninth day of national protest was the hottest and most violent since the Yellow Vests.
In many cities, the actions were accompanied by pogroms and vandalism, and law enforcement officers and civil servants were often the target of popular anger. In Lorient, protesters set fire to the building of the police department, in Bordeaux – the main entrance of the town hall, where the British King Charles III was supposed to be received at the beginning of next week. The protests ended in riots in Rennes, Lille, Nantes, Lyon and other cities of the country.
The demonstration in Paris, which was attended by 119,000 (according to the authorities) to 800,000 people (according to union estimates), started on the Place de la Bastille, from where people moved to the Opéra.
Incidents erupted all along the marchers’ route. The instigators, as usual, were “professional” rebels from the black bloc, far-left radicals – anarchists, eco-activists, anti-fascists. Youths in black clothes, hoods, glasses and masks set fire to the piles of garbage accumulated by the strike, gutted storefronts, bus stops, scrawled graffiti and smashed fast food restaurants, jewelry stores and banks – the main symbols of capitalism.
The most severe were the clashes around Opera Square. The youths built barricades from improvised means. Pavements, bottles and construction debris rained down on the police cordon. Even Molotov cocktails were used. Police responded with batons and tear gas. Later, the rebels began to disperse in groups of 30-40 people, riots broke out here and there in the city, which did not subside until late at night.
“Yesterday we registered 903 fires in Paris, 457 arrests across France and 441 injuries among police and gendarmerie,” French Interior Minister Gerard Darmanen said.
According to him, the riots were organized by about 1,500 provocateurs. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs also laid the blame on far-left politicians and activists who, according to him, are fueling the situation.
Meanwhile, the authorities seem to be missing an important point. In the case of the “yellow vests”, the core of the protest movement was mainly “labourers” from the countryside. Now in the crowd there was a huge number of young people, often minors.
Young people readily follow the radicals. Many, even without hiding their faces, participate in the pogroms, throw stones at police cordons and at the same time take selfies and pictures in “Tik-Tok” against the background of the riots.
At the same time, cleaners and oil terminal workers continue to strike, the number of trains on the railways and subways has been reduced, and flights have been cancelled. It will be very difficult to manage this situation in the context of the large-scale crisis.
Meanwhile, seemingly oblivious, the authorities continued to prepare the state visit of King Charles III. In honor of the British monarch, Emmanuel Macron was expected to give a dinner for 250 guests at the Palace of Versailles. True, there were rumors that the program would still be adjusted.
For example, the king planned to go from Paris to Bordeaux on the high-speed TGV train next Tuesday and then take a tram to the town hall. However, the trade unions have already set a new day for a nationwide protest on March 28. And the striking Bordeaux transport workers vowed to see to it that not a single tram was found for Charles III.
However, on Friday, at the request of the French president, the visit was nevertheless postponed: it will take place at a more suitable time and under better circumstances.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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