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Protests continue across France after Macron's pension plan push

Protesters gathered in Paris and many other cities, where some set fire to dumpsters and trash, and targeted various buildings to express their anger over a divisive pension plan.

AP

An oil worker on strike holds a flare as he stands on a crane, blocking access to an oil depot in Fos-sur-Mer, southern France, March 21, 2023.

Paris police have arrested 234 people overnight in the French capital, mostly for setting fire to uncollected garbage in the streets.

Tuesday's protests come after France's parliament adopted a divisive bill that President Emmanuel Macron pushed through, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Mostly small, scattered protests were held in cities around France, some degenerating late Monday into violent incidents.

In Paris, small groups took to the streets to set fire to piles of trash that have formed due to a strike by garbage collectors in the capital that is in its 16th day.

Paris police prefect Laurent Nunez said violent incidents were caused by groups of up to 300 people quickly moving through the capital.

Internal investigation

Speaking on news broadcaster BFM TV, Nunez said he ordered an internal investigation after an officer was filmed violently punching in the face a man who was walking backwards, making him fall to the ground.

The video has been widely shared on French social media.

Macron has planned a series of political meetings on Tuesday with the prime minister, parliament leaders and lawmakers from his centrist alliance.

The French president, who made the pension plan a centrepiece of his second term, is to speak Wednesday on national television, a first since he made the decision last week to use a government's special constitutional power to force the bill through parliament.

The move prompted two no-confidence motions against the government in the lower chamber of parliament that were both rejected Monday.

The bill still faces a review by the Constitutional Council before it can be formally signed into law.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is going to refer the issue to the body to accelerate the process, her office said. Some opposition lawmakers from the far right also have filed a request, and leftists are expected to do the same.

The Constitutional Council can reject articles within the measure if they are not in line with the constitution.

Opponents argue the text as a whole should be rejected.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies