President Emmanuel Macron called his government’s ministers to a crisis meeting this Monday as domestic tensions escalated a day before another major day of strikes and protests against his pension reform, France-Presse (AFP) reported March 27.
Nearly two weeks after Macron pushed the new law through parliament, using a special provision to bypass any vote in the National Assembly, unions have vowed not to stop mass protests to force the government to back down. They called for another big “day of action” this coming Tuesday, the 10th protest mobilization since riots began in mid-January over a controversial law that includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Macron, whose approval ratings in opinion polls are low, admitted last week to resigning himself to the “unpopularity” of his pension reform.
Prime minister Elizabeth Born meanwhile, she said that although there are no plans to repeal the law, she is ready for a new dialogue with trade unions.
“We have to find the right way. We need to calm down.” she told AFP last Sunday.
Last Thursday, police reported 457 arrests across France and 441 injuries.
Government spokesman Olivier Veran called a left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his party “Unbowed France” “profiteers of wrath”, and the deputy from the party “The Greens” Sandrine Rousseau accused Macron and the Minister of the Interior Geralda Darmanena in inciting unrest.
According to the Parisian public transport operator RATP, metro and suburban train traffic will be “heavily disrupted” on March 28.
Garbage collectors in the capital continue to strike: as of Sunday, about 8,000 tons of household waste have accumulated on the streets.
The French Civil Aviation Authority has ordered airlines at Orly airport in Paris, as well as Marseille, Bordeaux and Toulouse airports, to cancel 20 percent of flights for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the French police have come under fire for their harsh tactics during recent demonstrations. The Council of Europe said last week that peaceful demonstrators and journalists must be protected from police violence and arbitrary arrests.
IGPN, the criminal investigation unit of the French police, notified on March 26 that 17 incident investigations had been launched since the protests began.
