Emmanuel Macron's televised address greeted by pot concerts

A protester bangs on a frying pan to voice her opposition, in Paris, April 18, 2023. AP - Thibault Camus

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

Several thousand people demonstrated across the France on the night of Monday to Tuesday to shout again their disagreement with the pension reform, promulgated by the French president despite three months of protests.

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Spoon strokes on pans. Objective for these demonstrators: make the maximum noise and show Emmanuel Macron that they will not let go, after the presidential address: "We have a president who turns a deaf ear to his people who scream. Well, we don't want to listen to it either, "says one of them at the microphone of Lucile Gimberg. "What we see is that it is passing in force against the opinion of the people, against the opinion of the majority of the population in France," said another protester. "The unions continue to fight and we continue to fight," said one of them.

Against the president's disdain, against police violence... The anger goes beyond raising the legal retirement age to 64. Marcel is a former biochemistry researcher: "If you hear the pots and pans banging, it's because they're empty, because everything is expensive.

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Then a few hundred people rush into the adjacent streets. Garbage cans are overturned, set on fire. Construction barriers piled across the roadway. Martin is a student: "We tried to protest peacefully and we were not listened to. It is clear that what makes noise internationally is still that, these streets that are burned ...

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Under boos and anti-police slogans, agents of the much-maligned BRAV-M, a motorized brigade, charge the demonstrators. The air is saturated with tear gas. The chase will end late at night.

Incidents in Lyon

Several other "casserolades" were planned in Paris and throughout France. Several hundred protesters gathered on Marseille's Old Port before heading to City Hall, some chanting "Macron resign."

In Lyon, according to the prefecture, several incidents occurred shortly after 21 p.m. after a rally in front of the City Hall. "During a wild demonstration", a group of individuals forced a door of the town hall of the 1st arrondissement before entering the building and tagging the walls of the entrance, says the statement of the prefecture. Others set fire to the front of the borough's municipal police station and at the same time, a fire broke out in the basement of an adjoining building. On the route of this wild demonstration, projectiles and fireworks targeted the police, who then responded with tear gas. Two police officers were injured during the evening. The regional prefect reacted by strongly condemning "these attacks on public property" and assured the police of her support.

The anti-globalization NGO Attac, which had launched a call for "casserolades" in front of town halls, had identified "more than 300 rallies" in France.

(

And with AFP)

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Read on on the same topics:

  • France
  • French politics
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Employment and Labour
  • Social issues