Hundreds of thousands of people take to French streets amid fears of violence
Minister says 13,000 police deployed as Macron vows not to waver on unpopular pensions policy
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in street protests and strikes across France amid fears of violent clashes with police, as demonstrations continue over Emmanuel Macron’s use of constitutional executive powers to push through an unpopular raise of the pension age.
The interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said 13,000 police had been deployed, 5,500 of them in Paris alone. He said the record number was justified by “a major risk to public order”.
The protest movement against raising the pension age from 62 to 64 is the biggest domestic crisis of Macron’s second term, with the strikes on Tuesday affecting refineries, bin collections, rail transport, air travel and schools. Authorities in Paris and several other cities were braced for clashes between police and protesters.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/28/strikes-protests-france-macron-pensions-clashes