Eleventh day of protests in France
Protesters set fire to Macron’s favorite restaurant
4/7/2023 7:24 am
Talks between the government and trade unions have not yet been able to settle the dispute over pension reform in France. Thousands of people took to the streets again. In the end, even Macron’s favorite restaurant in Paris burns.
On the eleventh day of protests in France against the pension reform, fewer people than before took part on Thursday, but the goals of the sometimes violent demonstrations became more prestigious. Radical demonstrators and security forces clashed near the Paris restaurant “La Rotonde”, where President Emmanuel Macron celebrated his election victory in 2017.
Several protesters dressed in black threw bottles, stones and firecrackers at the police. The security forces used tear gas. The awning of the well-known restaurant caught fire, but was quickly extinguished. The police reported several injured in their ranks. Demonstrators also stormed a bank in Paris, also injuring security forces.
Macron and Scholz at “La Rotonde”
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Federal Government)
Macron repeatedly uses the restaurant for political meetings. Most recently, he sat with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in “La Rotonde” in January, which was the target of the demonstrators during the “yellow vest” protests three years ago.
Around 570,000 people took part in the demonstrations nationwide, according to the Interior Ministry. On the previous day of protest, there were 740,000. The figures from the trade unions are far higher in each case. In Paris, the police prefecture counted 57,000 demonstrators compared to 93,000 at the protests a week ago. The CGT union gave the number of participants in the capital as 400,000 – so it was 450,000 last Thursday.
Participation was also lower in other cities. In the protest stronghold of Rennes, the prefecture counted around 8,500 demonstrators and the unions 20,000. According to the prefecture, 10,000 people took to the streets in Marseille and 7,500 in Clermont-Ferrand.
More than 100 arrests nationwide
According to Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, there were 111 arrests nationwide. 154 security forces were injured in clashes, some seriously, Darmanin said on Twitter on Thursday.
In Nantes in western France, demonstrators and security forces fought for more than three hours, projectiles were thrown and property was damaged. A bank branch was set on fire in Nancy.
Estimates vary as to the number of demonstrators.
(Photo: IMAGO/SNA)
In the morning, demonstrators set up several roadblocks near Lyon, Rennes and Brest. There were protest actions in several universities and high schools. Rail traffic was also affected again, albeit less severely than on the previous days of protest.
The Ministry of Education reported less than 8 percent of teacher strikes. In the public sector, the strike participation was 6.5 percent, the same as on the previous strike day. At the energy company EFD, it fell slightly from 21.5 to around 20 percent.
French reject pension reform
The security forces had expected up to 800,000 demonstrators across the country. Around 11,500 police officers and gendarmes were deployed. Since the reform was passed through a legal constitutional gimmick, the protests had become more radical. The security forces were criticized for their sometimes brutal actions.
The day before, a meeting between France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and trade union representatives ended inconclusively after about an hour. The trade unions demanded in vain that the reform be withdrawn.
Unions have called for another day of protests on April 13th. Opponents of the pension reform have taken to the streets ten times since January. At the beginning of March, according to official figures, the nationwide demonstrations reached a maximum participation of around 1.3 million people.
The Constitutional Council is currently considering the law, which has been passed but not yet published. His decision is expected on April 14th. The reform gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. There are also exceptions for people who started their careers very early or who have particularly difficult jobs. In addition, the minimum pension will be raised to 1200 euros for a full contribution period. More than two thirds of the French reject the pension reform. Pensions are considered an important social achievement in France.