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French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is holding a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday to assess a weekend of violence and looting across the country. The scenes were among the worst instances of public disorder in modern French history, according to BBC World.
More than half a million people, mostly peacefully, demonstrated on Saturday against rising living costs and declining access to public services, including state education. The protests turned violent after groups of masked activists dressed in black and vandals appeared.
An estimated 1,500 shops and businesses were looted and destroyed. Riot police fired tear gas and used water cannon on crowds, and officers were seen striking people with batons in several locations. France’s interior ministry said about 1,000 police officers were injured on Saturday, seven of them seriously.
Rumours had circulated that President Emmanuel Macron might impose a temporary curfew in parts of the country or declare a state of emergency. Instead, in a televised address on Sunday, he called for national unity and said those responsible for the violence would be punished.
Macron’s speech drew widespread criticism on social media and from political opponents, who said it lacked concrete detail. Questions remain over how rioters will be held accountable, how towns and cities will be protected ahead of further demonstrations, how damaged businesses will be compensated, and when talks on education will begin with student and teacher organisations.
On Sunday, Sophie Binet, secretary general of the CGT union, accused Macron of failing to address students’ concerns, the cost-of-living crisis and the declining quality of public services. The president has seemingly handed responsibility to Lecornu, but critics say the prime minister and his interior minister were poorly prepared and that policing was inadequate ahead of Saturday’s scheduled demonstrations.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament, said she wants to open an inquiry into what happened over the weekend and why. On Sunday night, graffiti in red paint on a wall beside a row of shattered shops in Paris read: “Things are dark in the city of light”.
Macron is widely viewed in France as a lame-duck president nearing the end of his term. A closely contested race to succeed him is under way, with a vote scheduled in six months. Marine Le Pen, a candidate from the anti-immigration nationalist right, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from the anti-capitalist left, are competing for attention, adding to political and street tensions.
France’s parliament is paralysed and deeply divided among three political blocs. The country also faces financial pressure, with investors urging the government to bring spiralling public debt under control. The government is concerned that cuts to public services or welfare could bring more angry people onto the streets.
People across France were shocked and troubled by Saturday’s events. Images of tear-gassed towns, apparently unimpeded looting and burning public buildings have alarmed the country. Some people have expressed frustration that politicians appear focused on blaming one another while the public worries about the future.
“While we worry for our safety, they use this situation as a pre-presidential election political football,” Edouard, a teacher and father of three, said.
Macron and Lecornu blamed the violence on radical far-left groups and delinquents. Mélenchon accused the government of “incompetence”, while Le Pen, whose nationalist right is associated with a tough stance on law and order, posted a video address seated in front of the French flag. She blamed the “Macronist administration that is out of steam, exhausted, and disoriented”.
Authorities hope the next two weeks will bring some respite, as students begin their half-term break on Monday. But a range of trade unions and the diverse “yellow jacket” movement have announced major protests for 5 November. The movement held demonstrations for more than a year in 2018, during Macron’s first term as president.
France is holding its breath.
