France landmark is damaged in civil riots
France may declare a state of emergency to prevent a recurrence of some of the worst civil unrest in more than a decade.
Groups of young men with faces masked, some carrying metal bars and axes, rioted on the streets of central Paris on Saturday, setting a dozen vehicles ablaze and torching buildings.
The protest, dubbed as the 'Yellow Vest Protest', comes 18 months into President Emmanuel Macron's presidency. It has been named so because of the participants wearing fluorescent safety jackets that are kept in all cars in France. The protesters, "gilets jaunes" (yellow vests), reportedly have no real structure or leadership.
The demonstrations, which were first triggered weeks ago over fuel price hikes, have spread with people coming out in the open to express their dissatisfaction with Macron's economic policies, which many voters feel are in favour of the wealthy and big businesses.
President Macron dashed back to Paris on Sunday from a G-20 meet in Argentina. Immediately, he visited the Arc de Triomphe, which was defaced during riots on Saturday. Some bystanders cheered the president but more jeered him, with some protesters chanting: “Macron, resign!” The government has urged peaceful protesters to come to the negotiating table.
TV images on Sunday showed the inside of the Arc de Triomphe monument ransacked with a statue of Marianne, a symbol of the French Republic, smashed, and graffiti scrawled on the exterior.
According to media reports, the attacks on the historical monument were carried out by a small minority of the protesters, but the damage to the landmark has touched a nerve in the French government. “Of all the things that happened, the arson attacks, the attacks on the police, the attacks on the shops in the Champs Elysees, it is the Arc de Triomphe and the graffiti that was pasted over it, that is the biggest offence, as far as the administration is concerned,” he said.