France: Macron in the eye of the storm as public wrath sweeps Paris over his “Coup de Force” decision
Thousands of protesters took to the streets across France on Saturday in opposition to President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to appoint centre-right politician Michel Barnier as prime minister.
The call to protest came from left-wing groups, who described Macron’s decision as a “coup de force.” They accused him of undermining democracy by ignoring the results of the July snap parliamentary elections by not appointing Lucie Castets, the prime ministerial candidate from the pan-left New Popular Front (NFP) alliance.
“Democracy is not just the art of accepting you have won but the humility to accept you have lost,” said the LFI leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. He accused the president of “stealing the election.”
“I call you for what will be a long battle,” he urged protesters.
The protest organisers said about 300,000 people demonstrated peacefully across France, including Paris, Nantes in the west, Nice and Marseille in the south, and Strasbourg in the east. In Paris, 160,000 protesters gathered at Place de la Bastille, and tension flared up as police prepared for potential clashes, according to media reports.
“He (Barnier) has no social conscience and will constitute a government which will be in the same line as the previous ones. So that is enough now,” civil servant Jeanne Schmitt, 45, told Reuters on the sidelines of the Paris march.
Attal was forced to resign after Macron’s centrist government performed poorly in the July snap legislative elections. Macron called the election in the hopes of securing a clear mandate. The results, however, did not meet his aspirations. Nevertheless, the French president’s reactions seem to plunge the country into political turmoil.
