France Holds Crisis Cabinet Meeting After Weekend of Rioting and Looting
France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday to assess a weekend of violence and looting across the country — scenes described as some of the worst public disorder in modern French history.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered his resignation on Monday morning, the Élysée Palace announced. President Emmanuel Macron rejected it, instead tasking Nuñez with examining how to make France’s streets safer and how to bring the perpetrators of the weekend violence to justice.
How the Violence Unfolded
More than half a million people demonstrated peacefully on Saturday against rising living costs and dwindling access to decent public services, including quality state education.
The protests turned violent when groups of black-clad, masked activists and vandals infiltrated the crowds.
An estimated 1,500 shops and businesses were looted and destroyed. Riot police fired tear gas and deployed water cannons, and were seen striking people with batons in several locations.
France’s interior ministry said about 1,000 police officers were injured on Saturday, seven of them seriously.
Blame and Accountability
Interior Minister Nuñez has faced criticism from political opponents, trade unions and social media users, who accuse him of being ill-prepared and under-policing Saturday’s multiple, scheduled protests.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of France’s lower house of parliament, has called for an inquiry into exactly what happened.
On Sunday night, graffiti daubed in red paint on a wall beside a row of shattered shops in Paris read: “Things are dark in the City of Light.”
Macron’s Response Under Fire
Speculation had grown that Macron might impose a temporary curfew in parts of the country, or even a state of emergency. Instead, he delivered a televised address on Sunday calling for national unity and vowing that those responsible for the violence would be punished.
The speech was widely criticised in the French media for lacking concrete detail.
Key questions remain unanswered:
- How will vandals and rioters be brought to account?
- How will towns and cities be better protected, especially with new mass demonstrations announced in two weeks?
- How will destroyed businesses be compensated?
- When will dialogue resume with students and teachers’ bodies — the issue that sparked these demonstrations last month?
On Sunday, Sophie Binet, Secretary General of the CGT union, accused Macron of failing to address students’ concerns, the cost-of-living crisis or the declining quality of public services.
A Lame-Duck President
Macron has apparently passed the baton to Prime Minister Lecornu. The president is widely viewed in France as a lame-duck leader on his way out.
A fiercely contested race to succeed him is under way, with the vote scheduled in six months. Marine Le Pen of the anti-immigration nationalist right and Jean-Luc Melenchon of the anti-capitalist left are both vying for headlines — adding to tensions in politics and on the streets.
Parliament is paralysed, deeply divided between three competing political blocs.
Financial Pressures
France also faces mounting financial woes. Investors are pressing the country hard to bring its spiralling public debt under control. But the government fears that cutting public services or welfare will send yet more angry people onto the streets.
“What now? What next? Is our country broken?” — questions heard frequently across France at the moment.
A Shocked Nation
People across France were shocked by Saturday’s events. Images of tear-gassed towns, unimpeded looters and burning public buildings have unsettled the nation.
Many expressed frustration that their leaders seem focused on finger-pointing rather than solutions.
“While we worry for our safety, they use this situation as a pre-presidential election political football,” said Edouard, a teacher and father of three.
Macron and his prime minister blamed the chaos on radical far-left groups and delinquents. Melenchon alleged government “incompetence.” Le Pen posted a video seated before the French flag, delivering a presidential-style address blaming the “Macronist administration that is out of steam, exhausted, and disoriented.”
What Happens Next
Authorities hope for a brief respite over the next two weeks as students begin their half-term break on Monday.
But on 5 November, a cross-section of trade unions and France’s “yellow vest” movement have announced massive protests.