Millions of people took to the streets again on Thursday against the pension plans. In many places, the protests turned violent.
During renewed protests against the controversial pension reform in France, significantly more people took to the streets on Thursday. On the night of the ninth day of action, the Ministry of the Interior spoke of 1.08 million demonstrators, and the CGT union even reported 3.5 million participants across the country. In many places there were violent riots and property damage, and protesters fought with the police.
In Bordeaux, protesters apparently set the town hall on fire, videos on social media show soaring flames licking up the pillars. In Paris too, where the Ministry of the Interior talks of 119,000 demonstrators and the CGT of 800,000 participants, protests sometimes turn violent.
Protests turn to conflagration
Cobblestones, bottles and fireworks were thrown at security forces, and shop windows and bus stops were vandalized. According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, around 12,000 police were on duty – 5,000 of them in Paris alone. Police used tear gas in the afternoon and more than 234 police officers were reportedly injured in the capital alone.
Activists blocked train stations, streets and also part of Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris on Thursday, as reported by the media. Several people were arrested.
Government ignored Parliament
It was the first day of protests against the reform since Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, on instructions from Macron, resorted to constitutional paragraph 49.3 to impose the reform. Accordingly, a law can be passed without a final vote in Parliament if the government survives a subsequent no-confidence vote. On Monday, the government narrowly escaped being overthrown in such a vote. In particular, the reform envisages raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030.
The days of strikes and protests were mostly peaceful for weeks. In recent days, however, the spontaneous demonstrations have become increasingly violent. “We want non-violent actions that respect goods and people”, demanded Laurent Berger, from the CFDT union.
Beware of additional escalation
As he says in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”, the researcher and sociologist Hugo Touzet expressed his concern about this development: “Hundreds have been arrested in recent days, the police used batons and tear gas. They are making videos of the round of how the police are apparently beating protesters for no reason. I fear this will further radicalize the protests.”
In this situation, the government is adding fuel to the fire, for example by Macron comparing the protest movement with the invasion of the Capitol in Washington on January 6, 2021. The movement is widely supported, the protests are supported by all layers. “They don’t agree that the pension reform not only went unnoticed but also ignored parliamentarians,” said Touzet.
What is currently happening combines “all forms of protest of recent years”, including the yellow vest movement. “It’s all an explosive mix,” he says. “I don’t want to paint the devil on the wall, but once the spiral of violence has started – and it has – it’s not easy to stop.”
Rfi navigation account, time 20 minutes 03/23/2023, 21:27 | Act: 03/23/2023, 21:27