France: Prohibit marches in front of Parliament after two days of strong incidents

French police banned gatherings on Paris’ Place de la Concorde opposite Parliament on Saturday after two nights of protests against a controversial pension reform that led to incidents.

“Due to the serious risks of disruption of public order and security (…) all gatherings on public roads in and around Place de la Concorde, as well as in the Champs-Elysees area, are prohibited”, police told AFP.

“People who try to meet there will be systematically evicted by the police” and may be fined, the same source added.

President Emmanuel Macron decided on Thursday to adopt a controversial pension reform, without submitting it to the vote of the deputies, fearing a defeat in Parliament, by virtue of a legal mechanism: the controversial article 49.3 of the Constitution.

Its objective is to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 years by 2030 and advance to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years (and not 42 as now) to collect a full pension.

Thousands of people gathered on Friday night in protest mode in the Place de la Concord where incidents occurred that resulted in 61 arrests.

Some groups threw bottles and fireworks at the security forces, who responded with tear gas to evacuate the place where a large bonfire was burning.

The day before, 10,000 protesters gathered in the central square and 258 were arrested.

Source: agencies