450,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Paris today, the 10th day of mobilisation against the pension reform, according to the CGT union, while documents abound of the police attempt to disperse the crowd with constant CRS (the French riot police) raids.
Riots also broke out in the afternoon during the march in Paris, in an electric atmosphere due to the impasse in the dialogue between the Macron government and the unions.
🇫🇷 Protesters are still in Place de la Nation. The military police are firing tear gas and pushing them like animals on the metro steps. No respect whatsoever for the right to assemble but first and foremost for Man! This is the new normal for everyone... https://t.co/ygbpjVbeJq
- Maria Denaxa (@mdenaxa) March 28, 2023
🇫🇷 They want victims. There is no other explanation for the attacks on the protesters and the creation of panic in the crowd who cannot retreat while the military police are brutally beating them 👇 https://t.co/3AQmNNnLfT
- Maria Denaxa (@mdenaxa) March 28, 2023
The orgy of police violence had been foreshadowed as on Monday Interior Minister Gerald Darmannin had announced that an «unprecedented security force» of «13,000 police and gendarmes, including 5,500 in Paris» would be deployed today, because the authorities had recently observed a «trend towards greater violence against the state» and expected a «very serious risk to public order» in today's demonstrations.
The police, understating the numbers for obvious reasons, say that 740,000 demonstrators took part in today's demonstrations throughout France, 93,000 of them in Paris. He also noted a decrease in participation, saying that on 23 March, the day before the demonstrations, almost 1.09 million people took part in protest marches throughout the country, 119 000 of them in Paris.
The anger does not subside
Anger over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform shows no sign of abating, with protests, strikes and riots continuing for the 10th consecutive day across France. France is under strike action, which is particularly felt in the transport sectors as well as education. On the part of the trade unions, however, there have been some moves today towards consultation with the government camp, but these have been rejected by the government.
The demonstrations started peacefully on Tuesday morning, with the participation of crowds in many cities in France, without any minor tensions. Videos on social media show smoke bombs being fired by protesters outside the entrance to Biarritz airport and the boarding area at the terminal before it was evacuated after a notice was issued. Demonstrators holding, among other things, a banner reading «Police mutilate. We do not forgive!», blocked the railway tracks at the Gare de Lyon station in Paris.
Emmanuel Macron met yesterday with Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne and the parliamentary representatives of the parties supporting the government. During the meeting, he directly accused the left-wing party of France Untouchable of fomenting acts of violence and of wanting to delegitimise the country's institutions, and advocated dialogue between the government and the trade unions.
In the western city of Nantes, the boarded-up façade of a BNP Paribas bank branch was set on fire. Also in western France, protesters blocked the Rennes ring road and set fire to an abandoned car. In the city of Rouen in Normandy, the authorities confirmed that clashes had taken place.
The government rejected the trade unions' request for a review of the pension scheme
President Emmanuel Macron's government on Tuesday rejected a new demand by unions to review the pension bill, angering labor leaders who said the government must find a way out of the crisis as Reuters.
«We have proposed a way out ... and it is unacceptable to be stonewalled again,» CFDT union leader Laurent Berger told reporters at the start of a rally in Paris.
He and other union leaders had again called on the government to suspend the bill, this time suggesting the use of external mediators, as the government and the unions remain far apart.
An hour later, government spokesman Oliver Veran rejected the proposal, saying the cabinet was willing to discuss other policy changes, but not to review the pension bill.
Millions of people have been demonstrating and taking part in strike action since mid-January to show their opposition to Macron's plans to force most of them to work two extra years until they are 64.
But public frustration has evolved into a broader anti-Macron sentiment. In particular, protests have intensified since the government used special powers to push the bill through parliament without a vote.
Reinforced by the majority of French public opinion, the trade unions show no sign of retreat.
