Protests erupt in France over Macron’s retirement age push
PARIS — Angry protesters disrupted traffic along a busy Paris ring road Friday in opposition to French President Manuel Macron’s decision to ram a bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 through parliament without a vote while the government faces two noconfidence motions.
A day after Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked a special constitutional power to skirt a vote in a chaotic lower chamber, the farright National Rally and a small group representing leftist lawmakers and others filed separate noconfidence motions that are expected to be voted on early next week.
The fury Ms. Borne had faced in the National Assembly poured into the streets with citizens resolving to carry on their protests against the widely unpopular measure.
Protesters halted cars along a stretch of the road circling Paris, students blocked some university campuses and Paris garbage collectors extended their strike for a 12th day, with piles of foul-smelling rubbish growing daily in the French capital. Striking sanitation workers continued their blockade Europe’s largest incineration site and two other sites that treat Paris garbage.
Leaders of the influential leftist CGT union have called on people to leave schools, factories, refineries and other work places to force the government to withdraw the pension reform bill, which is not yet a law.
Mr. Macron took a calculated risk ordering Ms. Borne to make use of a special constitutional power that she had used 10 times before but without triggering the outpouring of anger caused by a bill that affects pensions and the retirement age.
Thousands gathered in protest Thursday at the elegant Place de la Concorde, which faces the National Assembly building. As night fell, police officers charged the demonstrators in waves and used a water cannon to clear the Place. Small groups then moved through nearby streets near chic boutiques and high-end real estate, setting street fires along the way.
Similar scenes repeated themselves in numerous other cities, from Rennes and Nantes in eastern France to Lyon and the southern port city of Marseille, where shop windows and bank fronts were smashed, according to French media.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told radio station RTL on Friday that 310 people were arrested overnight. Most of the arrests, 258, were made in Paris, according to Darmanin.
Several groups, including some yellow vest activists who had mounted formidable protests against Mr. Macron’s economic policies during his first term, called on the president’s opponents to march on the parliament on Friday.