PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of protesters participated in demonstrations across France on Thursday, as part of a nationwide strike day involving trade unions, the yellow vest movement,…
PARIS — Hundreds of thousands of protesters participated in demonstrations across France on Thursday, as part of a nationwide strike day involving trade unions, the yellow vest movement, students and workers from various sectors. According to authorities, an estimated 600,000 protestors took part, while unions have place estimates at more than 1.5 million. Despite the scale of these protests, the day passed relatively peacefully, albeit with some localized clashes in cities across France.
Some workers went on strike too, depleting some schools, universities, railways and, to a lesser extent, hospitals of their staff. France has faced weeks of protests, sparked by student demonstrations which began in mid-September against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and problems with university admissions. The movement has since broadened in scope, with trade unions backing students' grievances and taking to the streets to march against the cost of living crisis and rising fuel prices.
The mobilisation occurred a day after French lawmakers rejected the first part of the 2027 budget bill, in a unified consensus across party lines. The government's original budget proposal will now go before the Senate, with a vote scheduled for 9 December. A parliamentary committee will then attempt to broker a compromise before the legislation returns to the National Assembly. France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced on Wednesday that more than 70,000 law enforcement officers would be deployed the following day.
He stated that security forces' "primary mission" was to ensure that demonstrations occurred "peacefully" and "without any incidents".He noted that intelligence services had identified "considerable interest" from the far-left movement and violent protest groups with "several possible aims: taking part in them to provoke unrest; organising unauthorised marches; and carrying out looting and vandalism targeting businesses or public buildings."Authorities imposed restrictions on trade unions’ proposed protest route in Paris, approving an alternative route instead.
The decision comes amid tighter security measures instituted by the government following the violence of 17-18 October, where largely peaceful demonstrations were marred by violence and looting. On their end, trade unions and rights groups have condemned what they described as excessive policing and “authoritarian” measures aimed at restricting protests. French police has also come under fire over allegations of excessive use of force against protestors.
This is a source-linked briefing. Read the original report from Saudi Gazette .