Clashes erupt amid France's anti-pension reform protests
4 Min Read
French protestors are clashing with the police all throughout the country as the public takes to the streets to protest the government's decision many are deeming undemocratic.
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Youths gather near a burning scooter after a demonstration, March 28, 2023, in Paris (AP)
New clashes erupted Tuesday in France between protesters and police as tens of thousands of people have taken to the street to express their dissatisfaction with the government's policies regarding pension reform, which has sparked the biggest domestic crisis of French President Emmanuel Macron's second mandate.
Tuesday marked the tenth day of action in France since the outbreak of the protests in mid-January against the law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Domestic tensions have reflected on the streets as there have been numerous clashes between police officers and demonstrators, especially as the police have been accused of using excessive force by bodies such as the Council of Europe, which has further fuelled the anger of demonstrators.
Paris … the atmosphere is heating up pic.twitter.com/2Qp6O5sWXx
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) March 28, 2023
Europe's leading human rights organization - the Council of Europe - denounced France's "excessive use of force" against anti-pension reforms, AFP reported on Friday.
"Violent incidents have occurred, including some that have targeted the forces of law and order," the council's commissioner Dunja Mijatovic said.
🇫🇷Marseille, France pic.twitter.com/X6I2oF0UO4
— Donbass Devushka (@PeImeniPusha) March 28, 2023
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 13,000 members of the security forces were being deployed on Tuesday - 5,500 of them in Paris alone - and the government justified this decision by citing the "major risk to public order" posed by the protestors.
In Nantes, western France, protesters threw projectiles at security forces and set fire to garbage bins around the city court, while the police used tear gas to disperse them.
Riots are taking place in Paris, Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux. There are clashes with the police. The press is also under attack. pic.twitter.com/wHZTS8ULaH
— Spriter (@Spriter99880) March 28, 2023
The police in Lyon, southeastern France, used water cannons and tear gas against the demonstrators.
🚨🇫🇷EN DIRECT - Un manifestant résiste au canon à eau de la police à #Lyon. pic.twitter.com/QDUlemU2Ds
— AlertesInfos (@AlertesInfos) March 28, 2023
Meanwhile, in Paris, the police fired tear gas and charged at people at the head of the protest near the Place de la Nations in the French capital's east.
The police arrested at least 22 people in the country's capital by the afternoon, the Paris police said.
Despite the tensions in France and the ongoing strikes, sanitary workers in the capital have suspended a three-week strike that has seen thousands of tonnes of garbage pile up in Paris, the CGT union said.
However, the union said the move was to allow coordination with workers "so we can go on strike again even more strongly" as fewer workers have been on strike.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that French unions set April 6 as a new date to protest against the retirement age law.
Nearly two weeks after Macron forced the new pensions law through parliament using a special provision, unions have vowed no let-up in mass protests to get the government to back down.
On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced the adoption of the law extending the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years old by the government without a vote in the parliament. The lower house's chairwoman, Yael Braun-Pivet, declared that "the law is regarded adopted from this point forward."
Following the decision, on March 20 the government narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, but the outrage has initiated the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second term.
Furthermore, Macron on Monday met Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, other cabinet ministers, and senior lawmakers for crisis talks at the Elysee Palace.
"We need to continue to hold out a hand to the unions," a participant in the meeting quoted Macron as saying, although the president rejected any revision of the pensions law.
Borne has scheduled talks over three weeks with members of parliament, political parties, and local authorities, while still hoping to meet union leaders.
Moreover, the head of the CFDT union, Laurent Berger, called for the appointment of a mediator between unions and the government as the leader of the CGT union said, "The aim is the withdrawal" of the pensions law.
The CGT union said that 450,000 people had taken part in Tuesday's protests in Paris, almost half of the number who it said took part in the capital in a giant protest last Thursday.
Some 3.5 million people on Thursday took to the streets across France to protest against the government's pension reform plan introduced by French President Emmanuel Macron, the country's major CGT union said.
Around 12,000 police members, including 5,000 in Paris, were to be deployed during the day, Darmanin highlighted.
