untitled design

Boiling cauldron in France for the pension: 217 arrests in the protests

“It’s boiling” n Francewith police arresting 217 people last Thursday night during the events that followed a demonstration in Paris, as part of the ongoing mass protests against the pension reform, which was finally decided to be implemented without a vote in the lower house, media reported.

According to France Info, 217 people were arrested in episodes that broke out in the Place de la Concorde, in the center of the French capital.

According to the same source, police riot units used tear gas and pressurized water cannons to clear the square. Some of the protesters set fires and threw objects at police officers.

When the incidents broke out, there were about 6,000 people in the square, according to French media estimates.

On Thursday afternoon, the government decided at the last minute to implement the pension billwhich provides for the increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, bypassing the lower House, as it was not clear whether there was the necessary majority, as reported by international agencies and relayed by the Athens News Agency.

There is an article of the French Constitution (49, § 3) that allows this path to be followed. But the reform could be overturned in the event of a vote of no confidence in the government of President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne.

Demonstrations were organized yesterday in many other French cities (Marseille, Dijon, Nantes, Rennes, Rouen, Grenoble, Toulouse, Nice). The unions are calling for a new national strike next Thursday and mass mobilizations from the weekend. Millions of French people have repeatedly taken to the streets against the reform.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmamin ordered police to take “reinforced protection measures” for members of the French parliament.

Source: News Beast

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular