Towards a “popular censorship”? Throughout the country on Monday night, thousands of people took to the streets to denounce the use of 49.3, the failure of the motions of censure in the National Assembly and therefore the approval of the pension reform.
Paris, Bordeaux, Rennes, Strasbourg, Lille, Toulouse, Limoges, Saint-Étienne, Brest, Lyon, Rouen, Nancy… thousands of protesters marched in dozens of cities.
Reported cases of police brutality
Damage was often done on the sidelines or during these mobilizations. In Paris or Strasbourg, garbage cans were burned, billboards were broken. In Abbeville, the town hall was even invaded by protesters, while in Brest a police force had to be assembled around the stay of the Horizons deputy Jean-Charles Larsonneur.
Several cases of police violence, particularly in the capital, have also been denounced on social networks by independent journalists. An agent from the Motorized Violent Action Repression Brigade (BRAV-M) was filmed, for example, beating a young woman who was trying to shield her face from her, near Châtelet. Protesters were also harassed by CRS, while this practice was declared illegal by the Council of State in 2021. At least 142 people were also arrested in Paris, according to a police source.
In all the processions, the demonstrators denounced the government’s “coup de force” and called for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, a sign that the demands now seem to go beyond simple withdrawal. of retirement reform.
Laurent Berger concerned about “anger”
The CGT calls to “amplify the mobilization” and “participate massively in strikes and renewable demonstrations” on Thursday March 23 “and after, if necessary.”
Interviewé lundi soir, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, to appeal to the salariés à se “mobiliser jeudi, dans le cadre de l’intersyndicale, dans le même sens des responsabilités” that after the mois de janvier pour demander le retrait de reform. He said he was concerned about the “anger” and “violence” that could be expressed as a result of the approval of a law that “does not have a majority in the National Assembly”, while affirming that the unions would not be “responsible for what happens if would not be under the trade union slogan”.
Since Thursday night and the outbreak of 49.3, demonstrations have been daily in various cities in France. According to the latest Elabe poll for BFMTV, 68% of the French said they were “angry” this weekend. They were as much to want the approval of a vote of no confidence as the fall of the government.
At the end of the vote, Jean-Luc Mélenchon stated that “the time has come to pass to popular censorship”. For her part, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she was “determined to continue to bring the necessary transformations” to the country, following Parliament’s adoption of her hotly contested pension reform. “I am convinced that social democracy must have its place and that the social partners can embark on new fields,” she added.
Source: BFM TV
