French PM orders ‘localized’ curfews in response to looting and unrest

PARIS — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said he has instructed local authorities to enact “partial curfews” Monday evening to prevent scenes of rioting and looting like those seen on the sidelines of mass protests over the weekend.

The measure is intended to “protect people, as well as property and businesses,” Lecornu said. The curfews should be “partial” and “localized,” he added, since the destruction is taking place in specific areas and not at a nationwide scale.

Junior minister Jean-Didier Berger told French broadcaster BFM that this could mean restricting nighttime access to specific streets or areas with a high concentration of businesses. A “special support fund” will be set up to provide financial assistance to the estimated 3,000 local businesses affected by the weekend’s unrest, according to France’s minister for small business, Serge Papin.

Those announcements came after an emergency meeting at the French interior ministry following scenes of widespread chaos that played out across France on Saturday. While President Emmanuel Macron attempted to reassure a worried public with a primetime address Sunday night, the speech was widely panned across the political spectrum as insufficient. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez submitted his resignation in the aftermath of the weekend’s unrest, but Macron refused to accept it.

The government is now scrambling to bat down allegations that it has mismanaged the affair and stop it from snowballing into a sustained movement like the Yellow Jackets of 2018 ahead of the spring presidential election, which far-right leader Marine Le Pen is favored to win.

Saturday’s demonstrations saw teachers and students, who have been blockading schools for weeks demanding more funding for schools, join forces with those upset about the rapidly rising cost of living — and while hundreds of thousands of people marched peacefully, violent incidents were observed in some of France’s largest cities, including Paris.

A website claiming to represent the Yellow Jacket movement launched calls for more protests this coming Saturday, and the country’s main unions are organizing strikes and protests on Nov. 5 in opposition to the government’s proposed budget, which includes €43 billion in savings.

While high schools are currently closed for holidays, some students are still protesting. The Louvre museum was closed due to a strike movement from students at an art history university located inside the palace.

Exactly who was responsible for the weekend’s destruction remains a point of debate. While foreign leaders like U.S. President Donald Trump and Hungary’s Péter Magyar have, without evidence, pinned the rioting on immigrants, Lecornu and the government have pointed the finger at so-called “ultra-left” movements, citing analysis by French intelligence services. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau told TF1 on Monday that she “absolutely [could] not confirm” the government’s analysis based on the profiles of those arrested and placed under investigation in the French capital so far.

Lecornu and right-wing politicians have also accused far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is popular with young voters and vying for second place behind Le Pen in the polls, of playing an “important role” within a “far-left network” driving the unrest.

Mélenchon has repeatedly supported student protesters and denied allegations of responsibility for violence, blaming the government for the current situation and accusing the security services of deploying disproportionate force against minors. He and representatives of other left-wing parties participated in Saturday’s peaceful protests and made a qualified condemnation of the widespread looting.

Lecornu also said he will convene a meeting with party leaders and presidential candidates to discuss how to ensure campaign activities, such as rallies and visits across the country, can take place safely — and also hear their proposals for reforming French policing tactics, which have come under increased scrutiny.