PROTESTERS took to the streets across France on Wednesday, blocking roads, setting fire to rubbish bins, and clashing with police in a campaign to “Block Everything” in anger against President Emmanuel Macron and proposed budget cuts.
Many protesters directed their frustration at President Macron, who is already grappling with political upheaval after his government was defeated in parliament on Monday by a united opposition.
The ICIR reported that Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government collapsed on Monday following a failed confidence vote, raising uncertainty over President Emmanuel Macron’s future and the stability of the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
France’s parliament voted out Bayrou over a disputed budget plan that sought $52 billion in spending cuts to reduce the fiscal deficit.
President Macron named his fifth prime minister in less than two years on Tuesday, choosing close ally Sebastien Lecornu, a move that sparked outrage among left-wing politicians.
Police said on Tuesday that they prevented around 1,000 protesters from storming the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau reported that demonstrators set a bus ablaze in the western city of Rennes and hurled heavy cobblestones at police.
Retailleau, told reporters that 80,000 security forces had been deployed throughout the country, including 6,000 in Paris. Nearly 200 people were arrested, and sporadic clashes broke out.
In Paris, police used tear gas to disperse youth protesters blocking a high school entrance, while firefighters cleared burnt debris from a barricade.
In Nantes, protesters blocked a highway with burning tires and rubbish bins, while police fired tear gas to disperse crowds attempting to take over a roundabout.
In the southwestern city of Montpellier, clashes broke out as protesters erected a barricade to block traffic at a roundabout. Police responded with tear gas after demonstrators threw objects at them, while some carried a banner reading: “Macron resign.”
Officials said the “Block Everything” movement, a loosely organised protest with no central leadership and coordinated mainly through social media, first emerged online in May among right-wing groups but has since been taken over by left- and far-left activists.
The “Block Everything” drawing comparisons to the 2018 “Yellow Vest” protests, which arose over fuel price hikes but morphed into a broader movement against Macron and his plans for economic reform.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.