French govt says no plans for state of emergency yet
PARIS: The French government has no plans currently to impose a state of emergency over the ‘yellow vest’ protests which caused chaos and destruction in Paris over the weekend, junior interior minister Laurent Nunez said.
“It’s one option among others, but for now it’s not on the table,” Nunez told RTL radio, after calls by several police unions for expanded powers to contain the demonstrations.
States of emergency were imposed after nationwide riots in 2005 by youths in poor suburbs, and after the jihadist attacks in Paris in November 2015.
Many of the provisions, including expanded ID checks and restrictions on public gatherings, were incorporated into a new security law pushed through by President Emmanuel Macron when the emergency measures were lifted last year.
Some of the ‘ yellow vest’ demonstrators have already called for a third round of protests in Paris on Saturday, despite the violence over the weekend when dozens of vehicles were burned and shops vandalised.
Asked about the possibility that the next protest would be banned, Nunez said: “We’d have to be capable of stopping it, because these are determined people who would come anyway.”
He claimed that some of last Saturday’s protesters ‘clearly intended to kill’, citing the seizure of hammers and steel marbles among some of the 412 people arrested, and the near-lynching of a police officer near the Arc de Triomphe war memorial.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is holding crisis talks yesterday with leaders of other political parties on how to respond to the grassroots protests,
The talks follow a crisis meeting chaired by President Emmanuel Macron as he surveyed the damage from a day of riots across Paris that saw violence ‘on a level not seen in decades.’
Philippe has been asked to meet protest organisers and party leaders as part of a ‘constant wish for dialogue,’ the Elysee Palace said.
Environment Minister Francois de Rugy met representatives of the so- called ‘yellow vest’ protesters last week but failed to convince them to end the demonstrations that have taken place over the last two weeks.
The president assessed the damage at the Arc de Triomphe, the massive monument to France’s war dead at the top of the ChampsElysees avenue, where rioters scrawled graffiti and ransacked the ticketing and reception areas. Inside, rioters smashed in the iconic face of a sculpture, a partial reproduction of the frieze ‘ La Marseillaise’ by Francois Rude.
Macron also saw the wreckage of burnt- out cars and damaged buildings from rioting at other sites, where he praised the police but was also booed by sections of the crowd.
Paris police said 412 people were
I will never accept violence. No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers-by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc du Triomphe is defiled. Emmanuel Macron, French President
arrested during the worst clashes for years in the capital and 378 remained in custody.
Paris police chief Michel Delpuech said the violence had been ‘on a level not seen in decades.’
A total of 263 people were injured nationwide, including 133 in the capital, 23 of them members of the security forces.
“I will never accept violence. No cause justifies that authorities are attacked, that businesses are plundered, that passers- by or journalists are threatened or that the Arc du Triomphe is defiled,” Macron said.
The violence has caused deep concern in the French business community which claims it has already lost billions of euros.
Three people have died in incidents linked to the antigovernment protests, which were sparked initially by a rise in taxes on diesel.
In Paris, as groups of workers set about cleaning up the mess from the previous day, the scale of the destruction became clear.
Around famous areas including the Champs-Elysees, the Louvre museum, the Opera and Place Vendome, smashed shop windows, broken glass and the occasional burnt- out car were testament to the violence.
Dozens of cars were torched by the gangs of rioters, some of whom wore gas masks and ski goggles to lessen the effects of police tear gas.
One person was in a critical condition after protesters pulled down one of the huge iron gates of the Tuileries garden by the Louvre, crushing several people.
Nearly 190 fires were put out and six buildings were set alight, the interior ministry said. — AFP