Call for army to help riot police
Paris prepares for another weekend of damaging protests
Emmanuel Macron is facing calls to bring in the army to defend Paris from “yellow vest” attacks following riots in the French capital on Saturday.
The police unions’ plea for military backup came as the government held crisis talks on Monday 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-oftouch president of the rich.
Several regional state prefects, civil servants normally sworn to silence, were cited by Le Monde newspaper as criticising the “Parisian arrogance” of his government, cut off from poor provincial France and in a technocratic bubble that was without feeling.
One described the situation as pre-revolutionary.
Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, is in what observers call a race against time to prevent a fresh bout of violence and parliament is set to debate the crisis.
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, with one protester in Paris in a critical condition after being crushed by a giant railing in the Tuileries Garden. Some 682 arrests took place around France, including 426 in Paris, with 57 people due to be receive fast-track sentences yesterday. Some 133 people were injured, including 23 police in the capital.
With calls on social media for fresh protests in Paris this coming Saturday, several police unions urged the government to bring in the army as their men were exhausted.
Petrol bombs, rocks and even hammers were thrown at 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.
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 guerillas,” 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.”
With thousands of “yellow vests” continuing to block roads around France, 4,000 lorries were stuck
Spain, said
Food industry representatives warned that the blockages could cost à13.5bn (R209bn) over the festive season, while hauliers said they had already lost à400m (R6.2bn).
Despite Saturday’s violence, 72% of French continue to support the protests, a Harris Interactive poll suggested.
After meeting the prime minister, on the border of local Catalan authorities. Laurent Wauquiez, head of the conservative Republican party, said: “The only act that would restore peace would be to scrap the tax hikes.”
Marine Le Pen, head of the farRight National Rally, warned Macron had “only a few more hours” to stop the revolt spiralling out of control, and said he risked becoming “the first president in half a century to give the order to fire on French people”. –