Weekend protests against high prices in France for 4th week... Reduced size, 150,000 people gathered (comprehensive)

Large-scale weekend protests continued for the fourth week in major French cities, including Paris, on the 7th (local time) as hundreds of thousands of students and workers protesting against soaring prices and poor educational conditions took to the streets again.

According to foreign media such as AFP, French major labor unions, student groups, and protesters belonging to the 'Yellow Vest' movement, which spearheaded the anti-government protests against high prices eight years ago, gathered one after another in the main square in the city center from the morning.

However, perhaps because it was held immediately after the two-day demonstration, which also served as a general strike by the union, with an estimated 600,000 people gathered by the authorities and an estimated 1.6 million by the union, the number of participants in the protest on this day decreased noticeably compared to the previous three weekends.

The French Ministry of the Interior estimated that a total of 146,000 people participated nationwide and 46,000 people demonstrated in the capital Paris. On the other hand, the labor union calculated that 250,000 people participated nationwide and 75,000 in Paris.

Although the size of the protests has been significantly reduced, the authorities have begun preparations by deploying 70,000 police forces across the country and mobilizing armored vehicles and water cannons to prevent a recurrence of violence such as arson and store looting like those of the 17th of last month.

Police announced that before the march began in earnest, they conducted more than 15,000 checks at train stations near Paris and arrested 18 people.

According to local media reports, in the case of Paris, the protests took place in an overall calm atmosphere at the beginning. The dpa news agency reported that local TV footage showing the Place de la République in central Paris, where the protesters' march began in the afternoon, showed a calm and controlled atmosphere, with the protesters playing music and singing.

However, by the time the protesters dispersed after leaving the Place de la République and reaching their destination, the Place de la Nation in eastern Paris, sporadic clashes continued.

According to an AFP reporter, the police used tear gas to suppress some protestors who were throwing homemade firecrackers at the police at the end of the protest.

Tensions rose around the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the French president, and the Place de la Concorde, adjacent to the House of Representatives, as yellow vest protestors announced that they would hold an unauthorized rally separate from labor unions and student groups. Authorities deployed a large police force and established tight security around the Place de la Concorde to prevent protesters from approaching.

Nevertheless, the police surrounded about 100 protesters who arrived at the square, and in the process, some leaders of the Yellow Vest movement were also arrested by the police, AFP reported.

The Yellow Vest Movement said that the authorities were suppressing the people's right to protest with a hard-line response, and declared that they would push ahead with the banned assembly in protest, calling for 'civil disobedience'.

French authorities are currently conducting dozens of internal investigations into allegations of police brutality, following widespread criticism that the French authorities reacted too harshly to protests by high school students angry about poor educational environments in late September, leading to a series of injuries.

In Lyon, France's third-largest city, authorities banned gatherings due to safety concerns, and clashes broke out, with police firing tear gas at protesters protesting against high-rise buildings, the local BFMTV broadcast reported.

The French protests, sparked by high school students, have spread across the country with university students, workers protesting against high prices, civil servants, and ordinary citizens joining in, showing no signs of stopping for several weeks. Student and teacher groups have called for new protests on the 10th to increase pressure on the government, demanding increased education budgets.

The student union said, "Many young people are taking to the streets because the government's response is still unsatisfactory."

With less than half a year left before the presidential election amid the rapid rise of far-right forces, the French government is in a position to calm angry public sentiment as soon as possible, but due to the enormous national debt, it does not have the capacity to fully accommodate the demands of the protesters.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu plans to meet with union and employer group representatives on the 10th to discuss issues such as wage increases and prices.

Meanwhile, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the far-left party France Unbowed (LFI), whose approval ratings are on the rise as he continues to encourage the large-scale protests that are shaking French society, participated in an election rally held on the outskirts of Paris and announced his presidential pledge in front of 20,000 supporters.

Representative Mélenchon, who has been criticized by the government for inciting violent protests, raised his voice at the event, saying, "Everything must change," saying that he will take the opposite path to President Macron, such as economic stimulus policies rather than austerity.