Demonstration against the pension reform on March 23, 2023 in Paris (AFP / Thomas SAMSON)
Emmanuel Macron said on Friday “at the disposal of the inter-union” to discuss work-related issues, but without questioning his pension reform. The head of state does not want a “country at a standstill” and intends to “continue to move forward” despite the social anger which caused the postponement of the state visit of Charles III.
The day after another day of mobilization marked by a resurgence of violence, the boss of the CFDT Laurent Berger called, to “calm things down”, the head of state to “pause” the project for six months. flagship of its second five-year term.
From Brussels, where he was attending a European Council, Emmanuel Macron did not accede to this request.
“I indicated our availability to move forward on subjects such as professional wear and tear, career endings, retraining, career development, working conditions, remuneration in certain branches”, declared the French president. “And so I am at the disposal of the intersyndicale if it wishes to come and meet me to move forward on all these subjects”.
“For the rest and the pension reform, it is before the Constitutional Council and it is obvious that we will await the decision of the Constitutional Council”, in less than a month, he said.
The unions had asked, on March 8, to be received urgently by Emmanuel Macron, who then opposed them. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne then referred them to Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt.
-“Common sense” for Charles III-
Emmanuel Macron also had to justify himself on the postponement of the state visit of Charles III, scheduled for Sunday to Wednesday.
“Common sense and friendship lead us to propose a postponement”. “We would not be serious and we would lack a certain common sense”, to “propose a visit in the middle of the demonstrations”, he said.
The door of the town hall of Bordeaux after being set on fire by demonstrators opposed to the pension reform, March 23, 2023 (AFP / PHILIPPE LOPEZ)
Charles III was notably expected in Bordeaux, the scene of incidents on Thursday, where the porch of the town hall was set on fire.
Political leaders immediately seized on this postponement, starting with opponents of pension reform.
“The meeting of kings at Versailles dispersed by popular censorship”, rejoiced the leader of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in reference to the State dinner which was planned at the castle of the kings of France.
Same tone on the right: “what an image for our country of not even being able to ensure the safety of a head of state”, reacted the boss of the Republicans (LR), Éric Ciotti.
This state visit, for which 4,000 police and gendarmes were to be mobilized, raised growing questions, reinforced by the renewed tension on Thursday.
“Everyone must call for calm,” said the president (Renaissance) of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet.
Entering its third month, the protest in the street gathered Thursday between 1.089 million people (Interior) and 3.5 million (CGT).
The demonstrators expressed their anger at the 49.3 used by the government to push through the reform and the intervention of the President of the Republic on Wednesday.
The unions, reassured by the mobilization figures, were also cheered up by processions where young people clearly came in greater numbers.
High schools were again blocked on Friday morning, like the Condorcet establishment in Paris. The high school student unions Fidl and the Voix lycéenne are calling for a mobilization from Monday and until the end of the week.
The violence, which had so far been only sporadic, made a spectacular appearance on Thursday.
Door of the town hall of Bordeaux set on fire, “scenes of chaos” denounced by the mayor of Rennes, water cannons in Lille and Toulouse, demonstrator with a thumb torn off in Rouen, police station targeted in Lorient (Morbihan) … Violence “Unacceptable”, judged Elisabeth Borne.
– 457 arrests –
A demonstrator throws an object towards the police during a mobilization against the pension reform, on March 23, 2023 in Toulouse (AFP / Charly TRIBALLEAU)
In Paris, violence broke out at the head of the demonstration with their share of smashed windows and destroyed street furniture, and incidents continued late into the evening in the wake of wild processions, contrary to a parade where the great majority of protesters marched peacefully.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin reported Friday 457 arrests, and 441 injured in the ranks of the police.
Mr. Darmanin also mentioned eleven judicial investigations entrusted to the General Inspectorate of the National Police (IGPN), while many officials or observers evoke a hardening of the maintenance of order.
“We have a deeply political crisis, which calls for a political response and we are providing a police response,” denounced LFI deputy François Ruffin on BFMTV.
For Marine Le Pen (RN), “Emmanuel Macron can no longer govern alone, he must now come back to the people”.
The West and South of France affected by fuel shortages (AFP / Valentin RAKOVSKY)
The energy sector (gas, oil, electricity) remains particularly mobilized but the supply of fuel to the Paris basin by the large TotalEnergies refinery in Gonfreville-L’Orcher in Normandy resumed on Friday after an intervention by the forces of the order
And the anti-basin mobilizations in Deux-Sèvres this weekend promise to be a big challenge for the executive.
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© 2023 AFP
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