The French government is on high alert ahead of a new day of nationwide protests on Saturday, a week after some of the worst unrest the country has seen in decades.
The interior ministry said it would deploy 70,000 police officers across French cities, ramping up security after opposition parties accused the government of failing to foresee the scale of the violence on 17 October. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said authorities would be “uncompromising with the vandals, with the looters, and all those who commit acts of violence,” adding that calls for violence had been seen on social media from the “far left and radical extreme left.”
Sweeping restrictions have been imposed on demonstrations. President Emmanuel Macron decreed earlier this week that only protests organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted on Saturday. Several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, have announced blanket bans on gatherings. In Paris, a march organised by a student trade union and supported by labour groups has been ordered to avoid the city centre.
Despite the restrictions, hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Paris and elsewhere for a second round of protests organised by students, trade unions and wider anti-government groups. The Louvre, Orsay and Picasso museums will be closed, a scheduled PSG home football match has been moved to Monday, and some businesses have boarded up their windows.
The protests began with high school students demanding better school conditions and an end to staff shortages before violence took hold in some places. Macron met student representatives on Friday. His advisers told French TV that he had made commitments to improve high school education from Monday, but student leaders said students should “continue to mobilise.”
Hundreds of people have been jailed for vandalism, arson and looting after fast-track court hearings. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said 232 people had been imprisoned over the 17 October riots and more than 1,100 had appeared in court, with around 260 cases involving “charges of organised gang activity.” He has ordered prosecutors to seek punitive measures against those convicted of looting or attacking police, including bans on taking part in demonstrations, voting and accessing social media.
The unrest comes amid deep public disillusionment over cost-of-living pressures and warnings that any future government will likely face deep spending cuts. Protesters associated with a revived gilets jaunes (yellow-vest) movement could also be out in force on Saturday. A website linked to the group listed more than 500 planned demonstrations and 200 other actions, and demanded that Macron resign.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said during a visit to Limoges on Friday that the national government would pay to reconstruct the city’s 19th-Century town hall “exactly as it was” after it was torched during last week’s unrest, rather than local taxpayers footing the bill.
The political backdrop is increasingly polarised. Macron will leave office next spring, and polls suggest a candidate from his centrist movement could fail to reach a run-off vote in May, potentially leaving voters to choose between the hard-right National Rally and the radical-left La France Insoumise. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the LFI leader and presidential candidate, has criticised the policing of demonstrations and accused Macron of “destroying the republican state” by imposing restrictions. He has called on supporters to join Saturday’s protests.
A two-day National Rally conference in Orléans, south of Paris, could prove a flashpoint on Saturday, with left-wing groups expected to descend on the city as thousands of party members gather to hear Marine Le Pen speak. The city’s mayor warned that expected numbers were “unprecedented” and said thousands of police would be deployed, with public transport suspended.
