Protests have resumed in France – yesterday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country, voicing their dissatisfaction with the government’s performance and the rising cost of living, France 24 reports.
According to the Interior Ministry, a total of 146,000 people took part in demonstrations nationwide, including 46,000 in Paris. The unions, however, put the overall number of protesters at 250,000, including 75,000 in the capital.
Fewer people joined the protests this time than on the previous weekend. In addition, a large-scale union rally took place on Thursday which, according to the authorities, drew 575,000 participants, while the unions themselves estimated 1.6 million.
As an AFP correspondent reported, at the end of the protest in Paris police used tear gas against people who were throwing various objects and improvised pyrotechnics at officers. Police said a group of 200 aggressive individuals attacked officers as they were detaining a man who had set a rubbish bin on fire at Place de la Nation.
On Saturday, order during the protests was maintained by around 70,000 security personnel, ready for rapid intervention.
Trade unions organised the march along the traditional route – from Place de la République in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east of the city, where clashes broke out.
However, the “yellow vests” movement – a group whose protests almost ten years ago, at the start of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, shook his position – called for an alternative rally at Place de la Concorde in central Paris, right next to the presidential Élysée Palace and the lower house of parliament.
The authorities banned the event, and on Saturday, thanks to a heavy police presence, protesters were unable to get close to the site. About 100 people who arrived there were surrounded by police. Those detained included one of the movement’s coordinators, Benjamin Boll, and its spokesperson, Azelma Sigo.
In the city of Lyon in the south-east of the country, police used tear gas to disperse several hundred people who blocked a road in the city centre during an unauthorised gathering.
- Protests in France have now been taking place for the fourth weekend in a row, against the backdrop of the country’s preparations for the presidential election in April, in which the far right arguably has its best chance of coming to power.