MACRON URGED TO CALL IN THE ARMY AFTER A WEEKEND OF VIOLENCE IN PARIS. ANGER OVER THE RISING COST OF LIVING HAS BEEN GROWING AND THE PRESIDENT’S FUEL TAX INCREASE, SET FOR JANUARY, IS THE SPARK.
PARIS • French President Emmanuel Macron faced police calls Monday to bring in the army to defend Paris from “yellow vest” attacks following Saturday’s riots. The police unions’ plea came as the government held crisis talks with the leaders of all of France’s political parties, many of whom urged the president to instantly scrap “green” fuel tax rises to avoid the country spiralling into a state of insurrection.
The three-week revolt has exposed a deep malaise over high taxation, the price of living and a sense of social injustice. Much of the ire has been directed against Macron, with many protesters complaining he is an arrogant and out-of-touch “president of the rich.” Several regional state prefects — civil servants normally sworn to silence — were cited by Le Monde as criticizing the “Parisian arrogance” of his government, cut off from poor provincial France and in a “technocratic bubble” that was “without feelers.”
One was cited as describing the situation as “prerevolutionary.” Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, was due to announce new conciliatory “measures” in what observers are calling a “race against time” to prevent a fresh bout of violence. He has ordered a parliamentary debate on the crisis Tuesday.
On Saturday, masked protesters fought running battles with riot police, smashing and looting shops, setting fire to banks and even targeting cherished symbols of the French Republic — chief among them the Arc de Triomphe.
Four people have died in incidents linked to the revolt around the country. Some 682 arrests took place around France, including 426 in Paris, with 57 people due to be receive fast-track sentences Monday. Some 133 people were injured, including 23 police in the capital.
With calls on social media for fresh protests in Paris next Saturday, several police unions urged the government to bring in the army as their men were “exhausted.” Gasoline bombs, rocks and even hammers were thrown on the weekend, while one officer narrowly escaped a lynching. David Le Bars, secretary general of the police chiefs’ union SCPN, said soldiers should be drafted in as “reinforcements” to free up riot police against highly mobile vandals.
Up to 10,000 troops have been patrolling sensitive sites around France since the 2015 Paris terror attacks, but have not been used to protect landmarks during demonstrations.
“We must accept to free up security forces from a static form. We’re no longer talking about classic demonstrations but a phenomenon of urban guerrilla,” said Le Bars. Jean-Claude Delage, head of the main officers’ union, Alliance, warned: “If it kicks off like that next Saturday, there will be injuries and deaths among security forces.”