France experiences this March 24 interruptions in the train system and blockades in cities like Marseille, after President Emmanuel Macron approved the pension reform by decree. At least 457 people arrested and 441 police officers injured left the nightly riots, in one of the worst days since the protests broke out. The situation forced the authorities to postpone the state visit of King Carlos III, which was scheduled for March 26-29.
With broken glass, charred trash cans and vandalized bus stops, Paris and many French cities woke up on March 24, after violent nighttime riots amid protests against pension reform.
While in the last few hours there have been disruptions in the train transport service and blockades with trucks in cities like Marseille, in the south of the country.
At least 457 people were arrested and the security forces reported 441 injured in the clashes between Thursday night and early Friday morning.
Dozens of activists were also injured, including a woman who lost a thumb in the Normandy city of Rouen.
Among other damage, the entrance to the City Hall of the city of Bordeaux, in the south-west of the country, was set on fire, a fact that the mayor Pierre Hurmic described as “vandalism”.
“Why would they target our communal building, which belongs to all the people of Bordeaux? I can only condemn it in the strongest possible terms,” Hurmic said.
However, a large part of the massive mobilizations have been peaceful. Only on Thursday, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) indicated that 3.5 million people gathered to express their rejection of the amendment, which at its most controversial point increases the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
However, the Ministry of the Interior placed the number of protesters at around one million.
“There were many demonstrations and some of them turned violent, especially in Paris,” said Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who praised the hundreds of police officers who monitored the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, the Gonfreville-L’Orcher refinery in Normandy resumed the supply of fuel to Paris on March 24 after the intervention of the Police, according to the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
However, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Fos-sur-mer oil terminal near Marseille to plan future blockades of the refinery.
France suspends the visit of King Charles III
The violence unleashed amid social nonconformity forced the authorities to postpone the visit of King Charles III of the United Kingdom, which was scheduled for March 26-29. This was reported by the office of President Emmanuel Macron.
The measure occurs “due to the announcement of a new national day of action against the pension reform,” planned for next Tuesday, March 28, the Élysée Palace said in a statement.
The decision was “taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone exchange between the President of the Republic and the King this morning, in order to receive His Majesty King Carlos III under the conditions that correspond to our friendly relationship”, explained the French Presidency, which promised to reschedule the royal visit “as soon as possible”.
The British monarch also planned to travel to the city of Bordeaux, where he was expected to be received at City Hall, which was partially incinerated on Thursday.
The Government does not give in and maintains the reform
The French government is under pressure to find a way out of social discontent, but Macron has made it clear that he does not intend to go back on a measure that he considers “necessary”, as he ratified last Wednesday, March 22, when he offered the first public statement after to endorse the rule, through article 49.3 of the Constitution.
This move left the text of the reform exempt from voting in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament, where the right does not have a majority.
Although it was a constitutional mechanism, the opposition and the protesters consider it a blow to democracy and the will of the majority, since according to polls two out of three French people oppose the law that also contemplates advance to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years To get one pension, and not 42 years as it happens so far
And despite the anger in the streets, the Interior Minister on Friday dismissed the protesters’ calls to withdraw the reform.
“I don’t think we should withdraw this law due to violence (…) If that were the case, it would mean that there is no State. We must accept a democratic and social debate, but not a violent debate,” Darmanin said.
For now, the strikes and protests promise to spread.
The unions called for mobilizations for the weekend and new strikes and demonstrations at the national level for next Tuesday, March 28.
Fearing more damage, the French Civil Aviation Authority requested that a third of the flights in Orly, the second airport in Paris, be canceled next Sunday, and by Monday, March 23, the cancellation of 20% of the air travel.
With Reuters, AP and AFP
