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Police use water cannon and teargas on Paris protesters Police use water cannon and teargas on Paris protesters
(35 minutes later)
Police in Paris fired water cannon and teargas to repel gilets jaunes (yellow vest) demonstrators from around the Arc de Triomphe on Saturday during the ninth consecutive weekend of protests against the economic reforms of the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Gilets jaunes protesters engaged in a ninth weekend of protests across France on Saturday as president Emmanuel Macron prepared to stake his political future on an open letter to the French and a national debate.
Thousands of protesters also marched, noisily but peacefully, through the Grands Boulevards shopping area in northern Paris, close to where a major gas explosion in a bakery killed two firefighters and injured nearly 50 people early on Saturday. Officials said 32,000 demonstrators turned out across the country, several thousand more than last weekend. Gilets jaunes - named after the high-vis yellow vests French motorists must carry in their vehicles - said the number was higher but did not give a figure.
Who are the gilets jaunes and what do they want? After the violence of previous weeks, the government engaged in a show of strength deploying 80,000 police officers nationwide - 7,000 in Paris.
Central Paris was in lockdown against another feared eruption of violence by radical elements in the gilets jaunes movement, with bridges across the Seine closed and official buildings, such as parliament and the Élysée Palace, protected by police barriers. As night fell, security forces used teargas and water canon against gilets jaunes at the Arc de Triomphe.
Groups of protesters also gathered on and around the Champs Élysées, the scene of disturbances in recent weeks, many of them calling loudly for Macron to resign. In Bourges, a town of 66,000 people in central France - chosen because of its central location – gilets jaunes gathered despite a ban on protesting in the historic centre.
“Macron, we are going to tear down your place!” one banner read. Police said there 102 arrests in Paris, 74 of them remanded in police custody and 167 at Bourges. There were 6,000 gilets jaunes demonstrators at Bordeaux, according to local police, and gilets jaunes continued to block traffic at roundabouts across the country.
Around the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs Élysées, riot police unleashed water cannon and teargas at protesters after being pelted with stones and paint, witnesses said. The latest opinion polls show a slight reduction in the high level of public support for the gilets jaunes following last weekend’s violence, and a slight increase in popularity for president Emmanuel Macron, whose approval rating remains at a low of 30%.
By mid-afternoon, there had been no major clashes with police on a similar scale to those of previous weeks. More than 50 people were arrested in the city, some for carrying objects that could be used as weapons. Bruno Cautrès, of the elite Sciences Po political research unit CEVIPOF, said the gilets jaunes movement was at a “crossroads”.
There were also thousands of marchers in Bordeaux and Toulon in southern France, as well as Strasbourg in the east and the central city of Bourges. “We are beginning to see in our research that the question of violence will polarise the movement between those, like members of the France Insoumise (far left) and the Rassemblement Nationale (far right), who feel this violence might be justified and others who feel it’s gone too far.
Bourges authorities said nearly 5,000 gilets jaunes stuck to the designated demonstration area, but another 500 pushed into the city centre, which was off-limits for demonstrators. “Having said that the level of support for the gilets jaunes remains high.”
Many businesses in Bourges boarded their windows to avoid damage, and authorities had removed street furniture and building-site materials that could be used for barricades. The gilets jaunes movement began in November as a protest against a new eco-tax on petrol and diesel. Although the government dropped the tax and made certain concessions to protesters, the movement has grown to encompass a wide range of demands, including giving people a greater say in policy via citizens’ referenda.
In Strasbourg, up to 2,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the European parliament building and later marched to the centre of the city. Protesters set garbage bins ablaze and police fired a few teargas grenades, but no serious violence or looting was reported. Macron has attempted to take the sting out of the protests by announcing the “great national debate” to sound out the public on four themes: taxation, state institutions, democracy and citizenship, but just days before the consultation is due to begin on Tuesday, there is still confusion over how it will be carried out.
Paris bakery 'gas explosion' kills two firefighters The president will publish an open letter to the French people on Monday to “explain what I intend to do”. He said the debate was “a vital and very useful moment for our country”.
More than 80,000 police were on duty for the protests nationwide, including 5,000 in Paris. “It’s a great opportunity and everyone must take it … I want a real debate,” he said.
The gilets jaunes take their name from the high-visibility jackets they wear. They are protesting against a squeeze on household incomes andtheir belief that Macron, a former investment banker regarded as close to big business, is indifferent to their hardships. Cautrès added: “There is a situation of extreme tension and frustration in the country. Our research shows an rejection of politics, politicians and political parties. to the point of disgust and distrust. The level of this is really incredible.
Macron, whom they often criticised for his monarchical manner, is to launch a national debate on Tuesday to try to mollify the protesters, whose unrest has shaken his administration. “At the moment we don’t know the position Macron will take: will it be, I have heard the people but I’m continuing my reforms or I have heard the people and will adapt my programme?. That’s the unknown element,” Cautrès said.
The debate, to be held on the internet and in town halls, will focus on four themes: taxes, green energy, institutional reform and citizenship. But aides to Macron have said that changing the course of his reforms, aimed at liberalising the economy, will be off-limits. “If he and the government can show it is taking people’s hopes and views into account it might be one positive thing to come out of this and lighten the very dark place that France is in right now.”
Eddy Fougier, a political researcher with the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, said the national debate was the government’s only option for “getting out of this crisis”.
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