In France, 217 people were arrested on Thursday in demonstrations against the government’s pension plans. That reports Le monde. In Marseille and Paris, among others, there were confrontations between demonstrators and the police. Rioters also caused destruction.
In Paris, Place de la Concorde, where thousands of demonstrators had gathered, was evacuated. Riot police fired rubber bullets and used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters. In Marseille, rioters destroyed at least ten shops and set fire to rubbish bins. In Lille, two demonstrators were hospitalized with injuries.
On images on Twitter shows that demonstrators pelted the police in Rennes with fireworks. In Dijon, dolls with the faces of French President Macron and other cabinet members were set on fire.
Lebienpublic Le Bien Public ? Les manifestants sont en colère à #Dijon ! Après le passage en force du gouvernement par le 49.3, des mannequins à l’effigie d’Emmanuel Macron, d’Élisabeth Borne, d’Olivier Véran et d’Olivier Dussopt sont brûlés place de la République à #Dijon (? LBP/Jérôme DELABY) https://t.co/QypqksJlzn March 16, 2023 @ 5:08 PM
The unions have called on the French population to strike again nationwide. This demonstration is scheduled for Thursday, March 23. They also called on the French people to protest locally as much as possible this weekend.
Controversial law
On Thursday, the French government pushed through the controversial pension reform outside the Assemblée Nationale, the governing body that is comparable to the Dutch House of Representatives.
French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced that there would be no vote in the Assembly on raising the retirement age from 64 to 66. Instead, she invoked Article 49.3 of the French constitution, which she bypassed a vote.
Since the announcement of the pension reform in mid-January, numerous demonstrations have taken place in France. All trade unions and a large part of the French population, nearly 80 percent according to some polls, opposed the increase in the retirement age.