Paris. Serious riots have overshadowed nationwide protests against the high cost of living in France. Looting, arson and attacks on town halls caused millions in damage on Saturday - Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu denounced a “horrific level of violence”. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 2,000 people were arrested and 600 police and firefighters were injured. There is now a call for new protests for November 5th.
In the city of Limoges, which has a population of around 130,000, the magnificent town hall, which is a listed building, was set on fire and badly damaged. “Thanks to the emergency measures, the rear part of the building was saved,” said the prefect of the Haute-Vienne department, Maurice Barate, to the broadcaster BFMTV. A photo shows the burned-out roof trusses of the front part of the building, gaping holes where windows once were, and dark traces of soot on the light facade.
These included schoolchildren and students who have been demonstrating for better learning conditions for weeks. The call for protest, which could not be clearly assigned to any organization, was also about high fuel prices, low wages, the large number of low-wage workers and problems in agriculture and the fire department. However, due to the already high budget deficit and France's high level of debt, the government's scope for responding to the demonstrators' demands is limited.
Social worker Stella, who demonstrated in Paris, complained about her “starvation wages”. "I can barely make ends meet, I'm completely on my own and have to pay for an apartment - with everything that goes with it. In everyday life it's quite tiring to constantly have to calculate everything," she told broadcaster RTL. High school student Prune complained: "The situation at our school is deplorable. Two teachers have been missing since the start of the school year. The building is dilapidated, we have water leaks and the toilets are regularly blocked."
In many cities on Sunday, people were shocked to see the destruction. In central Paris, streets were littered with rubbish, demolished bicycles and items from looted shops. Passers-by looked at burned-out cars. Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire reported that the streets were completely devastated. “I witnessed things that made me mad: rioters setting fire to shops at the foot of residential buildings,” he told broadcaster BFMTV. The city cleaning service was in constant use, and residents also helped. The situation was similar in Marseille and Lyon.
Prime Minister Lecornu said that throughout the day the police had faced "a particularly violent ultra-left," "a very well-organized, opaque group that methodically tried to attack property, people, but also the institutions of the republic," Lecornu said. The country's control centers, the Élysée Palace, the seat of government and the National Assembly, were attacked. It is “a political maneuver that condones violence.” He emphasized: “We will not be intimidated by this.”
President Emmanuel Macron threatened those responsible with consequences. “There is no place for violence in our republic,” he said. “Those who destroyed and attacked both prefectures and businesses, and even looted our town halls, will be prosecuted and punished.” On Sunday evening he wanted to address the population in a speech.
“I have no words to describe what I could never have imagined experiencing in this city,” said Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan. “This is more than just dismay.” Hordes of rioters and looters attacked public property and undermined the demands of those who wanted to demonstrate lawfully.
Before the day of protest, there was a call online for a new edition of the so-called yellow vest movement. The student protests of the past few weeks had actually led the government to worry that the demonstrations could lead to widespread protests. The yellow vest protest, so called because many of those involved wore yellow high-visibility vests, kept France in suspense for a long time in 2019.
A new president will be elected in France next year. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron can no longer run. Polls have long seen the right-wing national candidate Marine Le Pen in the lead in the first round of the presidential election, most recently with around 34 percent. Some surveys saw the left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in second place, but in some surveys he was recently overtaken by the center-right candidate Édouard Philippe.
