Posted on 03/24/2023 3:31:59 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
More than 1 million people demonstrated across France on Thursday against unpopular pension reforms, and violence erupted in some places as unions called for new nationwide strikes and protests next week, coinciding with King Charles III's planned visit to France.
The Interior Ministry said the march in Paris — marred by violence, as were numerous marches elsewhere — drew 119,000 people, which was a record for the capital during the pension protests. Polls say most French oppose President Emmanuel Macron's bill to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64, which he says is necessary to keep the system afloat.
Building on the strong turnout, unions swiftly called for new protests and strikes on Tuesday when the British king is scheduled to visit Bordeaux on the second day of his trip to France. The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was set afire and quickly destroyed Thursday evening by a members of an unauthorized demonstration, the Sud Ouest newspaper said.
Nationwide, more than a million people joined protest marches held in cities and towns around the country Thursday, the ministry said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, visiting police headquarters Thursday night as fires still burned in some Paris neighborhoods, gave assurance that security "poses no problem" and the British monarch will be "welcomed and welcomed well."
He said there was "enormous degrading" of public buildings and commerce Thursday, "far more important than in precedent demonstrations."
"There are troublemakers, often extreme left, who want to take down the state and kill police and ultimately take over the institutions," the minister said.
(Excerpt) Read more at wlrn.org ...
"There are troublemakers, often extreme left, who want to take down the state and kill police and ultimately take over the institutions," the minister said.
If this is even considered here, my papers go in tomorrow.
Next French election would be 5-plus years away. Can’t influence it.
But the EU election is 12 months away. You could really influence it’s outcome. Tie in the Dutch farmer discontent, and ongoing economic woes in Germany....you could suddenly have a weird group showing up for EU operations.
The EU’s elections aren’t any more honest than ours are.
I look forward to seeing 1791 all over again. By the way, both sides in this fight are evil and both will screw the average french citizen who just wants to be left alone.
Let them eat cake...
Hmm
But massive and overwhelming uprisings of the people can cause resignations.
Well....in most EU countries (UK was never in this situation), you have to present a national ID card. So getting extra votes is pretty difficult to accomplish.
One interesting aspect from AM news today....lot of French police report injuries/wounds...so they won’t be available for weekend riot control. Would take a humble guess 20-percent will be out for a week.
If weekend riots continue at the same rate...by Monday, they might have removed 40-percent of riot police from duty. If the riots continued at same pace through next week...things would get out of control in the major cities.
One other thing you notice from video-clips...it just appears to be some Antifa-dressed types (black clothing, black umbrellas) in the midst of the riots. I’m not saying they contribute but it’s just odd that they show up.
Itappears left extremist antifa is paid world wide to take down countries.
I watched a news report last night that said that a lot of policemen were joining the protests.
The French and other Europeans have been pampered by their socialist minded governments on their uns0ustainable “entitlements” and the necessary end of easy money together with the current inflation is bringing reality to what should have been admitted long ago - national budgets cannot continue to afford things that were too generous all along.
Their leaders should say: Sorry we lied. We made promises about things when we had no legitimate cause to make those promises. We kept juggling our national commitments hoping we’d somehow continue to get by, before the unsustainable promises apart. Now they are falling apart and can no longer be avoided. Things will have to change, and some of it will be painful. Everyone will have to make adjustments.
Our own social security system is on the precipice as well.
King Charles should find an excuse to cancel his visit.
As far as I can tell....the police pension program is locked into place and unaffected by the age 64 ‘change’. But this was ironed out in 2019 in an agreement with the gov’t.
My general perception watching the video clips...the police have been ordered to establish ‘peace’, and their enthusiasm is marginal.
If you watch French public TV...it’s limited coverage shown.
Garbage guys who said it’s too violent to be driving around, so garbage in the major cities isn’t being picked up.
For those who don’t follow this chatter...this is mostly about a stagnant population (peaking at 68-million) and the only growth is in the migrant community. French industry/commerce have been expressing a fear that in the future...there won’t be enough employees to carry on.
If you did venture into rural communities/small towns of France, you might say that nothing much has changed or upgraded over the past 30 years. It’s the urbanized areas which seem to show advancement/population.
Macron may have a point about keeping the work force ‘balanced’, but he’s running out of time. Oddly, the same path that you see in Russia for the past 30 years, but without the migrants.
Final note: just odd...Germany raised its pension age around 15 years ago...hardly anyone rioted or demonstrated (raising it to 67).
The French government should have a bipartisan commission to discuss the issue and set up a plan. Then it would seem like a consensus and not a diktat. The French people have a history of violence to bring about change.
Germans are vastly different than the french in terms of protests. French do it on drop of a hat. That was also around peak Merkel’s time as well.
OMG....
Versailles?!
Talk about fricking tone deaf...
I find it ironic to see people who don’t work … rioting over pensions and retirement. :-P
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