FRENCH Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said yesterday that if declaring a state of emergency is deemed necessary ‘we could do so’, adding ‘at this stage partial curfews seem more appropriate’.
France’s bourgeois government has been thrown into turmoil by Saturday’s mass uprising by up to a million youth and workers, with the bond markets warning the lame duck Emmanuel Macron presidency not to make any concessions to the workers and youth uprising.
Speaking after an emergency meeting with Macron and other top government officials, PM Lecornu made a series of announcements, saying: ‘On Saturday, despite scenes of severe violence and extensive property damage, no-one was killed, and that is a miracle.’
He said a state of emergency could be installed if the riots continue, but in the meantime overnight curfews could be put in place by local mayors.
He repeated his attack on ‘the political far-left,’ who he blamed for trying to stir up disorder in the run-up to next April’s presidential elections.
France’s ‘yellow vest’ movement has called a new mass protest for this Saturday, 24 October.
The yellow vests (gilets jaunes) were responsible for France’s longest modern protests in 2018 and alongside the students and trade unions helped to co-ordinate the demonstrations across France over the weekend.
Announcing Saturday’s mobilisation yesterday, the group’s website editor, Benjamin Ball, said: ‘There is clearly a huge push for there to be an Act II.’
Also yesterday, Marseille imposed a ban on public gatherings and demonstrations, issuing a decree from the prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône, where France’s second-largest city is located, saying the ban will be in effect from 12noon-8pm.
Protesters from the student movement are currently blocking access to the Louvre Museum in Paris, with pictures from outside the museum showing a large group standing in front of its iconic entrance pyramid holding a banner saying: ‘French public services are falling apart.’
They handed out an information leaflet saying that they are ‘proud to be blocking the biggest museum in the world,’ adding: ‘This is an attempt to achieve our aim since our government has no reaction to youth protests other than a violent police repression.’
On Sunday evening, groups of people set fire to bins, bicycles and other objects in the streets in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other cities. At least 2,400 people were arrested across the country over the weekend.
- Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi criticised French President Macron for supporting US policy toward Iran, saying he cannot shift the blame for France’s massive wave of protests to a war on Iran that he helped bring about and he urged Macron to ‘listen to the future of France’.
