17 mar 2023 12:30 p.m
People in France have been protesting against a controversial pension reform for several days. On Friday, France’s interior minister Gérald Darmanin reported more than 310 arrests across the country. He also warned of future demonstrations.
In France, a total of 310 people were arrested on Thursday evening during spontaneous protests against the pension reform passed without parliamentary approval, 258 of them in the capital Paris alone. These numbers gave France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Friday morning on the TV station RTL known.
Basically, according to the minister, the debate about the pension reform was marked by enormous violence. Among other things, there were numerous serious insults against members of parliament and the disparagement of state symbols. In this regard, Darmanin warned that an attack on a parliamentarian is an attack on the republic. The police and gendarmerie would protect the elected representatives of the people.
Also reported RTLthat the minister had met with the prefects of the French regions to remind them of the need to protect public order in the country. Darmanin also warned against future demonstrations.
“All opposition is legitimate, but we will certainly not allow spontaneous demonstrations and the like.”
At the beginning of January, France’s Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne presented a draft pension reform that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. On March 16, the Senate, the upper house of the national parliament, voted in favor of the law. However, the vote in the National Assembly was omitted due to the application of Article 49.3 of the French Constitution. According to the article, the implementation of the reform could take place without the consent of the National Assembly. As a result, thousands of outraged citizens took to the streets. In many cases, protests escalated into clashes with police, who repeatedly used tear gas on protesters.
More on the subject – Despite mass protests: France’s government pushes through controversial pension reform without parliament
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