Pension reform: the mobilization does not run out of steam six days after the use of the 49.3

Several thousand people participated Tuesday night in Nantes torchlight demonstrations to protest against the government's pension reform. © LOIC VENANCE / AFP

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Throughout France, rallies and demonstrations were organized for this new day of mobilization, the sixth since the outbreak of 49.3 by Elisabeth Borne. And on Thursday, March 23, a large-scale mobilization is expected against the contested pension reform.

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The knife came very close for Elisabeth Borne: nine votes were missing from the trans-partisan motion of censure presented Monday to the National Assembly to overthrow the Prime Minister and her government. And everywhere in France, rallies and demonstrations were organized on Tuesday, March 21 against the highly contested pension reform.

In the streets, anti-reform demonstrators are determined to continue the mobilization, as Éléonore Schmidt, spokesperson for the Alternative Students union present on the Place de la République in Paris, explains: "We see a movement that is gaining momentum among students. The anger is only growing. In universities, there are sixty blocked, trivialized or occupied institutions, so the number is substantial. We also see that there are new people joining us and this is linked to Emmanuel Macron's democratic denial. We will mobilize until the reform is withdrawn. We also participate in the blockage of the economy to put the president against the wall.

6th consecutive evening of mobilization against the pension reform and 49.3 in Paris. pic.twitter.com/U5pLG3Q4sF

— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) March 21, 2023

In Nantes and Rennes, several thousand people participated Tuesday night in torchlight demonstrations to protest against the government's pension reform. In Nantes, they were 10,000 demonstrators according to the unions, 4,100 according to the police. The first tear gas was fired shortly after the start of the demonstration by the police, who were under heavy mortar fire, AFP journalists found.

In Rennes, 4,000 people, some of whom carried torches according to the organizers, 1,200 according to the prefecture, walked through the city center in peace. Back at their starting point around 20:30 p.m., protesters dropped paper lanterns into the sky chanting slogans hostile to Emmanuel Macron and the police, before dispersing.

In Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, the blockade continues in front of the oil depot. A few hundred of them gathered in front of the shutdown refinery.

Story of the day of blocking in Fos-sur-Mer

Ariane Lavrilleux

'Arbitrary' arrests singled out

Strong tensions between the police and anti-reform demonstrators have emerged throughout the country. Clashes giving rise to images of very forceful police interventions and at least 200 arrests in Paris, including that of a cadre of the party La France Insoumise, which arouses a lively political controversy.

There is a strategy, that of Darmanin, Macron and Borne, which is to intimidate the youth, to intimidate those who are legitimately angry, it is called state violence to make sure that everyone goes home.

Clémentine Autain, MP for the France Insoumise

Aurelian Devernoix

«

A policy of traps and batons " also denounced in the National Assembly during questions to the government, arousing the anger of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who denounces the instrumentalization and responsibility of the Insoumise France: "Last night, your verbal violence spilled over into the street, you attack the police and gendarmes, you question their work. For my part, I want to pay tribute to them, they protect us, they protect our institutions and the republican order.

According to the latest consolidated report from the Paris prosecutor's office, 425 people were placed in custody during the first three evenings of spontaneous demonstrations, from Thursday to Saturday. Only 52 of them were prosecuted at the end of the proceedings. Figures for Sunday and Monday evenings are not yet available, the prosecutor's office said. A total of 287 people, including 234 in Paris, were arrested Monday night in France during a fifth consecutive evening of spontaneous demonstrations against the government's decision to pass its pension reform without a vote in the Assembly, according to a police source.

The French authorities denied on Tuesday that there were unjustified arrests during the recent demonstrations against the pension reform in Paris, as denounced by the opposition: "There are no unjustified arrests, I can not let that be said," said the prefect of police of Paris, Laurent Nuñez on BFMTV, while lawyers' unions, Magistrates and left-wing politicians have denounced "arbitrary" police custody.

Claire Hédon, the Defender of Rights, who is responsible for defending citizens' rights in France, said she was "concerned" and "worried " about the consequences of preventive arrests synonymous with deprivation of liberty and recalled the rules of ethics in the maintenance of order.

Between 600,000 and 800,000 protesters expected on Thursday

Gérald Darmanin announced Tuesday that "12,000 police and gendarmes" would be mobilized Thursday in France including "5,000 in Paris " for the new day of inter-union action against the disputed pension reform. Between 600,000 and 800,000 demonstrators, including 40,000 to 70,000 in Paris, are expected in the streets Thursday, according to intelligence estimates, police sources told AFP.

In the regions, more than a dozen cities will see " demonstrations of the ultra-left", according to territorial intelligence, especially in Rennes where the presence of some 500 members of the protest movement is anticipated, said one of the police sources.

Regarding criticism of police custody of demonstrators that would be "arbitrary", according to lawyers, magistrates and politicians, Gérald Darmanin argued that these police custody are always decided "under the authority of the prosecutor's office". "Yes to the freedom to demonstrate, no to disorder, to the border," warned Gérald Darmanin, denouncing the wild gatherings of recent days.

What options do trade unions have to continue the movement?

Far from being simple for the unions, they must always appear credible and keep the lead in the protest while remaining united. But how to renew and sustain when certain components of the CGT harden the movement, multiply actions and when the youth also takes over the street, far from any union consideration?

"Trade unions have weapons, tools in their hands," explains Bernard Vivier, director of the Higher Institute of Labour. They first have an appeal to the Constitutional Council. This is a real unknown for the government text, the law can only be implemented when the Constitutional Council has approved it in whole or in part. The trade unions always have pressure from the streets, from demonstrations. And Thursday's demonstration is going to be important for that. They also have - but this is to be used with caution, because a cleavage can appear between organizations - strikes, blockades, "France at a standstill" to use an expression of recent times. »

The other track is the referendum of shared initiative (RIP) filed this Monday before the Constitutional Council. But it is a long and uncertain process. The time is still today for anger expressed in the street and the inter-union seems to want to support it, while avoiding falling into radicalism.

► Also listen: Pension reform: "There is a concern to de-dramatize" Emmanuel Macron

(

and with AFP)

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• French politics
• Emmanuel Macron
• Employment and Labour
• Elisabeth Borne