At least 120 people were arrested on Thursday night in Paris, in spontaneous demonstrations against the reform of the pension system in France, approved Thursday without a vote by the National Assembly.
The police intervened late Thursday afternoon in Paris, not far from the Parliament, in the Place de la Concorde (Place de la Concorde, in French), where thousands of demonstrators had gathered in protest against the pension reform, found journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP).
As of 9:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. in Lisbon), 120 people had been arrested, in particular for committing damage, the Paris police told AFP.
According to this police force, the agents acted, specifically with water cannons, after an attempt to destroy the site of the Obelisk, in the center of the square.
These police interventions caused large movements of people in the square.
Their charges and the use of tear gas drove protesters away from the bridge leading to the National Assembly and pushed people to the other side of the square.
At night, a few hundred people were still in the square, where the firefighters intervened to extinguish several fires, specifically in planks and in an excavator.
Trash cans were also set on fire on nearby streets, police said.
The French government resorted this Thursday to article 49.3 of the French Constitution, which provides that a law can be approved without going through the National Assembly (lower house of parliament), to approve the pension system reform law.
Among the most controversial articles of this new law is the increase in the retirement age to 64 years or 43 years of bonus, but also the end of the existing special regimes for workers in transport, energy or even the Bank of France, as well as the adoption of a special contract to promote the employment of people over 60 years of age.
The extreme right, the right and the entire left of the French National Assembly called on Thursday for the resignation of the Government, after the forced approval of the reform of the pension system, promising to present three motions of censure in the next 24 hours.
After this decision by the French government, there are now doubts about the future of the prime minister, whose main mission was to negotiate this reform and ensure the majority.
Even if the no-confidence motions are not approved, Elisabeth Borne may leave the Government, paving the way for a new executive leader.
The French Prime Minister stressed this Thursday that her future in the Government will depend on the motions of censure announced by the opposition against her executive.
The inter-union that fights against the reform of the pension system in France has already called “meetings” for this weekend and a ninth day of strike and demonstrations for March 23.
Source: TSF
