Mass riots during mass protests against pension reform in France

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in France on May 1 against President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform, resulting in violent riots. There were arrests and injuries in Paris and other major cities, and police used tear gas. Protesters set fire to cars and rubbish bins and smashed the windows of banks and shops. Nationwide, 291 demonstrators were arrested and 108 police officers were injured, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced in the evening. However, the balance is not final.

The unions had called for more than 300 rallies in major cities and smaller towns. In the evening, authorities spoke of 782,000 participants across the country, with 112,000 in Paris alone. According to union figures, there were 2.3 million people.

Of course, the vast majority of protesters remained peaceful, the interior minister said. But especially in Paris, Lyon and Nantes, law enforcement had to deal with extremely violent rioters who had only one goal: to kill police officers and attack other people’s property. In Paris, a police officer was seriously injured after being burned by a Molotov cocktail. “This violence must be condemned unconditionally.” It is absolutely not normal for officials to be pelted with firebombs and paving stones.

Video footage from several cities shows massive damage to property. In the capital and other major cities, the police used drones for the first time to monitor the situation. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne condemned the violence as unacceptable. She expressed her support for law enforcement.

The last nationwide protests against the pension reform took place two weeks ago, after Macron officially raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. The fact that the government pushed through the reform without a vote in parliament, using a special paragraph, also raises resentment on. Typically, on May 1 in France, between 100,000 and 160,000 people gather for rallies across the country. Now, however, the unions had declared May 1 as another day of protest against the president’s reform.

Macron’s center government would like to see the pension reform now decided upon over, but trade unions and parts of the opposition continue to protest to prevent its implementation from September 1.

The question now is whether the May 1 demonstrations will be the last major demonstrations against pension reform. The number of participants was already falling beforehand and there are also signs that the common front of the trade unions is falling apart. For the first time in years, the major trade unions had joined forces in the fight against reform. But when it comes to whether and when to go back to the government’s offers for dialogue, a different course emerges.

Macron and his government hope to calm the situation and move on to other issues as soon as possible. To regain the confidence of the population, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne presented a 100-day program on Wednesday with steps for improvement in areas such as education, health and internal security. As with pension reform, the government is in a tight spot, having lost an absolute majority in parliament since last summer’s elections. Borne therefore postponed a new migration law until the autumn. (sda/dpa)