France prepares nationwide protest as week since riots fuels public discontent

Security measures and restrictions

The interior ministry plans to put 70,000 police officers on duty for Saturday’s protests. The government faced criticism from opposition parties over its response to the unrest on 17 October.

President Emmanuel Macron decreed that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions could proceed. Lyon, Nice and Montpellier announced blanket bans on gatherings, while Paris authorities ordered a student march to avoid the city centre.

Rules vary across the country after some cities, including parts of the capital, experienced partial curfews during the week. Public buildings and businesses in some areas have been boarded up ahead of the demonstrations.

Student and yellow-vest mobilization

Macron met representatives of high-school students on Friday. The students said he had made clear commitments, but urged their peers to keep mobilising. A student trade union is organising a Paris march with labour-group support. The revived gilets jaunes movement may also draw large numbers, and a website linked to it listed more than 500 planned demonstrations and about 200 other actions for Saturday, while calling for Macron to resign.

Unrest and proposed penalties

Last Saturday’s demonstrations in Paris began largely peacefully, then turned into rioting and looting. Across France, police were outnumbered, shops were looted and buildings were set alight, including the 19th-Century town hall in Limoges.

Interior Minister Darmanin called for uncompromising action against vandalism, looting and violence. He ordered prosecutors to seek punitive measures for people convicted of looting or attacking police, including demonstration bans, loss of voting rights and restrictions on social-media access. Darmanin also said social media had carried calls for violence from the far left and radical extreme left.

Political discontent and divisions

Left-wing groups are expected in a small city where thousands of hard-right party members are due to hear Marine Le Pen speak. Polls suggest she may have her strongest opportunity yet to become president in her fourth run; she denies wrongdoing in an EU-funds embezzlement case and is appealing her conviction.