France: major protest day – Lecornu convenes crisis unit, 25 metro stations shut
Students, unions and former Yellow Vests plan nationwide demonstrations on Saturday. The interior ministry counts around 500 actions and more than 90 rallies.
Symbolic image · Photo: Romainbehar / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
France faces a nationwide day of protest this Saturday, called by school and student unions, parts of the labour movement such as the CGT and Solidaires, former Yellow Vests, farmers from the Confédération paysanne, and ride-hailing (VTC) drivers. Purchasing power is the central theme, according to BFMTV. The interior ministry expects around 500 actions and more than 90 demonstrations; an intelligence note seen by BFMTV puts expected turnout outside Paris at 60,000 to 110,000.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has convened an interministerial crisis unit at the initiative of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, meeting on Saturday at the level of chiefs of staff. Blockades of major roads and essential facilities "will not be tolerated", the ministry said. According to Europe 1, Nuñez has also re-authorised stun grenades, banned after a high school student lost a hand in Lens at the end of September.
In Paris, the main march is due to leave Place de la République at 2 p.m. and head along the Magenta, Rochechouart and Clichy boulevards to Place de Clichy. According to Sortiraparis, 25 metro stations and the RER A stop at Charles de Gaulle–Étoile are closed. Routes to Concorde and the Bastille were banned, as were gatherings near the Élysée, Matignon, ministries and train stations. The CFDT and FO unions are instead backing a cross-sector strike on 5 November.