PARIS (Reuters) -Clashes erupted in Paris next to a Left Bank brasserie favored by French President Emmanuel Macron as protesters torched garbage cans and smashed up two banks during an eleventh day of nationwide demonstrations against pension reform.
The bistro La Rotonde, whose awning was set alight as protesters threw bottles and paint at police, is known in France for hosting a much-criticized celebratory dinner for Macron when he led the first round of the 2017 presidential election.
Protests against the flagship reform of Macron’s second term, which lifts the retirement age by two years to 64, began in mid-January and have coalesced widespread anger against the president.
“Strike, blockade, Macron walk away!” protesters chanted in the western city of Rennes, where police fired tear gas at protesters who threw projectiles at them and set bins on fire.
The street protests have become increasingly violent since the government pushed the pension legislation through parliament without a final vote due to a lack of support among lawmakers.
But police estimates indicate the number of people taking part may be falling.
On Thursday, black-clad anarchists smashed the windows of two banks and engaged riot police in cat-and-mouse skirmishes along the route of the street protest.
One police officer briefly lost consciousness after being struck on the helmet by a rock.
Polls show a wide majority of voters oppose the pension legislation. But a source close to Macron said that was not what mattered.
“If the role of a president of the republic is to make decisions according to public opinion, there is no need to have elections,” the source said. “Being president is to assume choices that may be unpopular at a given time.”
‘WITHDRAW THE REFORM’
Union leaders and protesters said the only way out of the crisis was for the legislation to be scrapped, an option which the government has repeatedly rejected.
“There is no other solution than withdrawing the reform,” the new leader of the hardline CGT union, Sophie Binet, said at the start of the Paris rally.
Strike participation on the trains and in schools was down on Thursday. On the streets, the hardline CGT said about 400,000 people joined the protest in Paris, down from 450,000 the week before. The police estimated 57,000, according to a source, sharply down on the 93,000 reported a week earlier.
The numbers could bring some hope to officials who believe the rallies may be losing steam.
A key date will be April 14, when the Constitutional Council delivers its verdict on the pension bill. Constitutional experts say the council is unlikely to strike the legislation down, which may help weaken protests.
“Mobilization will continue, one way or another … It’s a long distance race,” the CGT’s Binet said.
In the Paris rally, nurse Soraya Bouadouia said: “I will be here until the withdrawal of the pension reform, which is a completely unacceptable reform.”
With Macron on an official trip to Beijing, one protester held a banner that read: “Macron resign. You will hear us all the way to China.”
(Additional reporting by Stephane Mahe, Silvia Aloisi, Tassilo Hummel, Lucien Libert, Noemie Olive, Elizabeth Pineau, Michel Rose, Benoit Van Overstraeten; writing by Ingrid Melander; editing by Hugh Lawson, Mark Heinrich and Nick Macfie)
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