French PM Calls Crisis Meeting After Weekend of Riots and Looting

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is chairing a crisis cabinet meeting on Monday to assess a weekend of violence and looting across France. BBC describes the unrest as some of the worst public disorder in modern French history. It comes as the country is politically divided and a presidential election approaches.

What happened on Saturday

More than half a million people took to the streets on Saturday to protest against rising living costs and shrinking access to decent public services, including education. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, but the situation deteriorated when groups of masked, black-clad activists and vandals appeared.

An estimated 1,500 shops and businesses were looted or destroyed. Riot police used tear gas and water cannon, and were seen hitting people with batons in several places. The interior ministry said about 1,000 police officers were injured, seven of them seriously.

Political reaction

On Sunday, President Emmanuel Macron used a televised address to call for national unity and promised the perpetrators would be punished. The speech was criticised on social media and by political opponents for lacking specifics: it did not explain how rioters would be held to account, how cities would be protected, how businesses would be compensated, or when talks with students and teachers' bodies would begin. Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT trade union confederation, accused Macron of ignoring students' concerns and the cost-of-living crisis.

Lecornu and his interior minister are accused by many of being poorly prepared. Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the lower house of parliament, wants to open an inquiry into what happened and why.

Macron and the prime minister blamed radical far-left groups and delinquents. Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon alleged government incompetence, while nationalist Marine Le Pen blamed an "exhausted and disoriented" administration.

What comes next

Students begin a half-term break on Monday. But on 5 November, trade unions and the "yellow jackets" (gilets jaunes) movement, which protested for over a year in 2018, have announced large new protests. The presidential vote is scheduled in six months, parliament is split among three blocs, and investors are pressing the government to bring public debt under control.