Rallies took place this Monday evening in several cities in France against the pension reform, after the rejection of the cross-partisan censure motion in the National Assembly, ratifying the adoption of the government’s project.
Sporadic points of tension crossed certain arteries in the center of Paris at the start of the evening. A few hundred people, joined by deputies from France Insoumise (LFI), first gathered at Place Vauban (7th arrondissement), before being channeled by the police. Then, garbage fires and clashes with the police were spotted in the Saint-Lazare station district (9th), around the Place de l’Opéra, where many CRS buses were parked.
A procession of a hundred people, mostly young, then walked shortly after 9 p.m. rue Réaumur and rue Montmartre, overturning the trash cans of traders. They were followed by the Brav-M police on motorcycles. A hundred people, according to an AFP journalist, were also at the Châtelet, not far from the Hôtel de Ville. According to our information, 101 arrests have been recorded in the capital.
Clashes in several cities
A large thousand people also gathered in Strasbourg, chanting various slogans including: “we too will go through in force”. Damage has been committed on the quays along the Ill. The facade of a bank was stoned and tagged, most of the garbage cans on this quay were set on fire and advertising signs were smashed.
A few clashes broke out between demonstrators and the police in Lille, where a thousand people had gathered in Place de la République, according to BFMTV. As soon as the rejection of the motion of censure was announced, hundreds of demonstrators also gathered in Nantes, Toulouse, or even Rennes.
After the failure of the opposition’s attempt to overthrow the government on Monday, Nupes leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for “going to popular censorship”. “I form the wish that this popular censorship is expressed massively, in all places in all circumstances, and that it will allow us to obtain the withdrawal of the text”, declared the leader of the rebellious, during a press point near of the Palais Bourbon.
