French President Emmanuel Macron was under pressure on Friday to find a way out of a crisis that saw some of the worst violence on French streets in years over a pensions bill passed without a vote in parliament.
In Paris and many cities across the country, cleanup crews have found broken glass, charred trash cans and destroyed bus stops after violent nighttime clashes between black-clad protesters and police. A banner over an ATM read: “Paris is burning.”
At least 441 police officers were injured and 475 people were arrested. Dozens of protesters were also injured, including a woman who lost a thumb in the Normandy city of Rouen.
Protests that drew large crowds against a bill that would have raised the retirement age by two years to 64 were peaceful during the day.
But there were violent clashes across the country on Thursday night, with a police station set on fire in the western French city of Lorient, the main entrance to Bordeaux Town Hall set on fire and hundreds of fires reported across the country.
“There was unacceptable violence,” the head of the CFDT trade union confederation, Laurent Berger, told RTL radio. “We need to calm things down before there is tragedy.”
“To find a way out, we need the government and the president to make a gesture,” he added.
In a television interview on Wednesday, Macron said he would not withdraw the law and would proceed as planned and go into effect by the end of the year.
Source: Terra
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