Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he had personally ordered the ban but then made a decision to allow the protest after an emergency meeting with unions yesterday where a compromise was reached on where the rally could be held.
Advertisement
French trade unions have been given the go-ahead to hold a protest rally in Paris after a u-turn by the government, which had initially outraged labour leaders by denying permission for the march. But the head of the influential CGT union, Philippe Martinez, insisted on BFM television Thursday that, “we are not accomplices of the troublemakers”.
Bitter negotiations preceded the march, as French authorities first invited unions to agree on “a static gathering” instead of a march, threatening to prohibit the protest if they failed to do so. Up to 90 people were arrested ahead of the march due to security concerns.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned against any fresh violence on Thursday, saying: “The French people do not tolerate and will not tolerate any excesses or those who do not condemn them”.
Violence on the fringes of recent protests has stretched a police force already challenged by the demands of a state of emergency in place since Islamist militant attacks on Paris last November and fan violence during the Euro 2016 tournament.
Over 2,000 police enforced strict security measures at Thursday’s demonstration after last week’s turned violent, leaving two officers hospitalized and 26 others injured.
A demonstrator places a rose in the vest of a French CRS riot policeman at the Place de la Bastille square during a demonstration against plans to reform French labour laws in Paris, France, June 23, 2016.
It’s part of protests around France and a one-day strike Thursday against a bill that makes it easier to lay off employees, extends the work week and weakens union powers. Opponents say the reforms would undermine workers’ rights on pay, overtime and breaks.
After the volte-face, right-wing former prime minister Alain Juppe tweeted: “Once again the government acts in panic rather than assuming its responsibilities”.
“French voters don’t like the law but they also want this to be over with”, Dabi said.
Police have said some union members participated in and cheered recent violence.
Unions have been protesting and striking since March 9.
Following the violence, President Francois Hollande had threatened to ban future demonstrations, “if property and people and public property can not be safeguarded”.
Protests in past weeks have been marred by hundreds of mostly masked youths engaging in running battles with police, hurling paving stones, smashing shopfronts and plastering anti-capitalist slogans on buildings.
Advertisement
A survey out Sunday found that two in three French people are opposed to the labour bill, which is now before the Senate, the upper house of parliament.
