Violent demonstrations broke out in several parts of France on Thursday evening after the government forced through controversial pension reforms. Protesters were met in several places by tear gas and water cannons and in Paris alone over 200 people were arrested. Thousands of French gathered on Thursday in several major cities to protest against the new pension laws that the government pushed through without support in the National Assembly. Most of the demonstrations are said to have been peaceful at first, but towards the evening it became violent in several places, French media reports. There have been reports of fires, vandalism and clashes between protesters and police. Molotov cocktails In Paris alone, over 200 people were arrested at the Place de la Concorde, a stone’s throw from the National Assembly premises, on Thursday evening. There, as elsewhere in the country, the police used both water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters. In Nantes in western France, protesters allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at police officers, among other things. The atmosphere is described in many quarters as threatening and hateful towards government representatives, and Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is said to have called for strengthened personal protection for the country’s elected officials, reports Franceinfo. Paragraph 49.3 President Emmanuel Macron’s government has long tried to gather support for an increase in the retirement age in France. The Senate voted for the government’s line, but the National Assembly threatened to stop the proposal. Then the government and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne pulled the emergency brake and on Thursday triggered section 49.3 of the constitution. It gives the Prime Minister the right to bypass members of the National Assembly and ensure that a law is passed regardless of what they say. – Élisabeth Borne triggered 49.3. She set off a bomb. It will make people even angrier, Engéline Allée, 48, who works at Paris public transport company RATP, told France 24. Engéline Allée adds that she thinks the entire government should resign.
t4-general
Over 200 arrested at French pension protests
