Spontaneous protests accompanied by incidents took place on Monday evening in several large French cities after the National Assembly did not vote on two motions of no confidence aimed at overthrowing the government, which were submitted by the opposition after the pension reform was adopted without a parliamentary vote.
Large and small groups of young people across the country trashed and set fire to trash cans, erected barricades, and threw things at the police who arrived on the scene.
In Paris, a few hundred people first protested, accompanied by representatives of the radical leftist Disobedient France, in Vauban Square near the National Assembly, before police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. Meanwhile, there were reports from other parts of the capital that groups of young people set fire to bins and clashed with police, including around the Opéra and Chatelet square.
According to reports on the scene by French news television, the protesters torched rental electric scooters and bicycles, set trash cans on fire and played a cat-and-mouse battle with the police who arrived at the scene, who fired tear gas on several occasions.
According to police sources, 142 people were produced in the capital by midnight.
BFM news television, citing police sources, said that around 2,000 young people took part in the protests in Paris. According to the AFP news agency, similar scenes took place in other French cities.
Demonstrations were held across France:
In Strasbourg, about a thousand protesters gathered in Kléber square in the city center, where they greeted the decision of the National Assembly with boos and whistles, then lit smoke bombs and shouted: "we will also turn on power". After that, some of the protesters started vandalizing, they broke into the entrance of a bank, set fire to trash cans, and smashed advertising signs.
I feel endless disgust, this is a mockery of democracy, both in its form and in its content
AFP quoted teacher Giampiero Russo.
In Dijon, according to AFP, 200 people protested, many with their faces covered and wearing hoods, while shouting "we hate the police". The demonstration was broken up by the police at 9 p.m., and two people were produced.
In Lyon, around five hundred young people protested in central Guichard square before throwing things at the police. According to AFP, young protestors gathered in several parts of the city, two of whom were arrested.
Hundreds of people also took to the streets in Lille and chanted "XVI. We beheaded Lajos, we will start again with Macron". "We expected this to happen (in the National Assembly), but we are disappointed and angry," AFP quoted 26-year-old Emma Maest as saying that the protests will not end at all despite the conclusion of the parliamentary debates.
There were also reports of violent protests from Nantes, with youths throwing tear gas at the police, who responded with tear gas, and protests in Rennes, Bordeaux, Limoges, Poitiers, Rouen and Brest.
11 police officers across the country were injured in the clashes.
Background: such is the mistrust of the French
The rejection of the motions of no confidence means that the pension reform has been definitively accepted by the parliament, and its entry into force will be announced by the President of the Republic. Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to make a statement on the reform in a few days.
The Prime Minister's Office announced that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will "as quickly as possible" turn to France's highest administrative office, the Council of State, to comment on the text of the pension reform, whose most controversial measure is the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Since January 19, the trade unions have organized national protest days with the participation of hundreds of thousands demanding the withdrawal of the pension reform eight times, and now they have announced the ninth march for Thursday, at the same time asking the protesters to avoid disturbances.
Source: Mandarin
Civilians. Info:
We should not open a debate about how the pension reform was adopted in France, because it is not our business. But we could talk about that, and even ask questions to the liberals who defend democracy in Brussels, why are we not hearing their voices now? Vera, Guy, Daniel will certainly only find fault with us, are we the only ones to be held accountable for the rule of law?
At the same time, we are curiously waiting to see if the French opposition representatives of the European Parliament, following the example of Czech-Dobrev, will suggest some sort of sanctions against their country.
