"Following the letter you sent to me (...) I would like to confirm that the protection of elected officials is currently and more than ever the priority of the Minister of the Interior", replied Gérald Darmanin to the head of the deputies. Rebirth of the Assembly Aurore Bergé, in a letter consulted by Agence France-Presse "As soon as I took office, I asked the police and the prefects to be particularly attentive to the violence of which elected officials are victims,” he added. The minister also sent a note to the prefects on Thursday asking them to "firmly maintain the system implemented following (his) previous instructions" for the protection of elected officials. He asks them in particular to "continue the surveillance put in place around the offices of parliamentarians and their homes, if necessary" or to "maintain a reinforced watch on social networks" to detect "any threat or any possible hateful message". A little earlier in the evening, Aurore Bergé had asked the Minister of the Interior to "mobilize state services" for the "protection of parliamentarians" of the majority, targeted by opponents of the pension reform .
According to a new report from the Paris police headquarters, at least 217 people were arrested after the clashes that shook the capital on Thursday evening
The patron saint of Renaissance deputies Aurore Bergé asks, Thursday evening, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin to "mobilize the services of the State" for the "protection of parliamentarians" of the majority, targeted by opponents of the reform retirements. "I refuse to see deputies from my group, or any deputy of the Nation, being afraid of their individual expression, afraid of voting freely because they would fear reprisals", wrote Aurore Bergé in a letter to the minister, including Agence France - Press got copy.
Several majority deputies say they are "stunned" by the government's recourse to 49.3 on pension reform, in particular to the MoDem, who "pleaded to the end" for a vote. Among the centrists, Erwan Balanant (MoDem) came out "in shock" from the hemicycle, he told Agence France-Presse. "It was a mistake to make 49.3 on a text like that given the state of our democracy. We had to go to the vote, even if it meant losing. I am in shock", reacted this elected representative from Finistère, evoking a situation "approaching the crisis of the regime". In a press release, the entire group of 51 MoDem deputies thus emphasizes having pleaded "to the end in favor of a vote". He "nevertheless assures" the executive of "his support" after the "difficult decision" to use the constitutional weapon. This is "the only way to guarantee the adoption of a major and essential text for the safeguard of our pay-as-you-go pension system". Within the Horizons group, André Villiers, one of the most reluctant to reform, believes that "it's a delayed mess" and that "in public opinion things will remain very crystallized". At Renaissance too, some elected Macronists do not hide their incomprehension. At a Renaissance meeting shortly before the formalization of 49.3, the deputies were "stunned", according to a participant. They anticipate "the possible sequence behind". For a leader of the majority group, on condition of anonymity, "it's a crash. It needs a dissolution".
The LR deputy for the first constituency of the Territoire de Belfort announces, Ian Boucard, this Thursday evening, that he will vote for the motion of censure tabled by the centrist group LIOT. He was one of the elected LRs opposed to the reform, despite group instructions.
To those who are wondering, rightly, yes I will vote for the motion of censure tabled by our colleagues from @GroupeLIOT_An.
Violent demonstrations erupted Thursday evening in Rennes and Nantes, including mortar fire at the police, AFP journalists noted, a few hours after the government announced the use of article 49.3 to reform pensions. "A wild gathering of 700 young people, including a hundred ultra, are currently degrading the city", indicated in the evening the prefecture of Ille-et-Vilaine. Around 7:00 p.m., several hundred young people gathered at Place Sainte-Anne in the historic center and started lighting fires. Security forces tried to extinguish them and used tear gas to disperse the protesters, noted an AFP journalist. Extremely mobile, the demonstrators lit several fires, damaged street furniture and a hotel, and used fireworks.
"We regret the use of a weapon that prevents debate. Beyond that, what we deplore is the way in which the necessary pension reform has been initiated, both in substance and in form", criticizes this Thursday evening the deputy of the 2nd district of the Somme and former minister of the first five-year term of Emmanuel Macron, Barbara Pompili. "We call for a leap against the extremes that take advantage of the anger that is expressed and call for a change of method to build the law in a more concerted and peaceful way," she says.
Damage and violence take place in the 1st arrondissement of the capital. The toll of arrests climbs to 120, according to the police headquarters.
Paris: overflows in progress in streets adjacent to Place de la Concorde pic.twitter.com/sfvkvBfg30
After long minutes of clashes, the Place de la Concorde was evacuated by the police. A wild demonstration is held in Paris, without having been authorized in advance. Strong tensions are reported in the "beautiful" districts of Paris with clashes in particular in the rue Saint-Honoré. At least 73 arrests have taken place, according to a latest report from the police headquarters.
After being concentrated on the Place de la Concorde, the clashes between demonstrators and police took place in other places in the capital, near the Concorde.
In Amiens, where 1,000 to 1,500 demonstrators marched, according to the prefecture, the CRS used tear gas, just like in Lille. In Dijon, where 700 people gathered, some "attacked the police and committed damage", while a mannequin bearing the image of the President of the Republic was burned, according to the prefecture. In Grenoble, 200 to 300 people gathered in the afternoon in front of the prefecture. In Lyon, a demonstration gathered some 400 people around 5 p.m. in front of the prefecture to cries of "Macron resignation". Several thousand people also gathered in Toulouse, AFP noted. In Bordeaux, around 300 people gathered, spontaneous gatherings also took place in Strasbourg or Besançon (500 people according to the police), where garbage bags were left in front of the prefecture.
