Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that nearly 200 people have been arrested as they tried to attempt to block key roads.
Photo: SNS
The appointment of Sebastien Lecornu as the new Prime Minister of France prompted massive protests in Paris and several other cities as young protesters hit the streets against the Emmanuel Macron-led government under the slogan ‘Block Everything’.
According to local media reports, the protesters carried out blockades at Henri-IV and Lavoisier in the 5th arrondissement (district), Lamartine in the 9th, Voltaire in the 11th, Claude-Monet in the 13th, and Hélène-Boucher in the 20th in the capital, Paris.
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Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said that nearly 200 people have been arrested as they tried to attempt to block key roads.
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Police also resorted to firing tear gas shells to disperse the protesters who tried to block the entrance to a high school in Paris.
In some places, police also fired stun grenades as thousands of protesters attempted to enter at Gare du Nord station.
Protests have erupted across France following the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister. He is France’s fifth prime minister in two years.
Reacting to Lecornu’s appointment, Marine Tondelier, leader of the Green Party, said that Macron appointed him without consulting other political parties, and the “answer is in the streets.”
“Emmanuel Macron is therefore preparing to appoint a prime minister without consulting the political parties…The answer is in the streets. Tomorrow,” Tondelier said.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a hard-left leader in France, called Lecornu’s appointment as PM a “sad comedy of contempt for Parliament”.
“Only Macron’s departure can put an end to this sad comedy of contempt for Parliament, voters, and political decency,” he said.
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