Paris: Police were deployed across Paris on Friday as the city prepared for expected protests over the weekend.
France will deploy 70,000 police officers nationwide for demonstrations on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday, in an effort to prevent a repeat of the violence and looting that shocked the country last weekend.
Elite security units and heavily armed mobile squads will be deployed alongside regular police forces in a show of force aimed at reassuring the public and dispelling fears that the government has lost control of the streets.
Anger over rising living costs and strained public services has drawn students, workers and trade unions to the streets in recent weeks. Authorities say radical militants and groups of young looters have exploited the unrest to spark violence and disorder.
Some far-right politicians have blamed migrants and radical Islam for the turmoil, accusations that President Emmanuel Macron has dismissed.
President Emmanuel Macron convened a meeting of his defence council, comprising senior ministers and officials, amid the escalating crisis. He was also scheduled to meet security forces as authorities stepped up preparations for the weekend demonstrations, according to France24.
Macron also met representatives of secondary school students for the first time since the protests escalated. However, student representatives urged their peers to continue demonstrating, saying the government had yet to present concrete proposals to address their demands.
Nathanael Combary, president of the campaign group High School Renewal, said Macron had been attentive during their meeting but added that students were awaiting proposals during discussions with the prime minister scheduled for Monday.
“We are not satisfied,” Combary said, urging students to continue mobilising to maintain pressure on the government.
The French government has sought to distinguish legitimate public grievances and peaceful demonstrations from the looting, arson and destruction reported during last Saturday's protests.Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said courts had already sentenced 217 people, around half of them first-time offenders, to prison in connection with the violence, France24 reported.
The demonstrations have also intensified political tensions ahead of France's 2027 presidential election. A recent poll cited by France24 indicated that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen remained the frontrunner, with the latest developments reportedly strengthening her position.Le Pen's National Rally party is scheduled to hold its congress in Orléans this weekend, where thousands of supporters are expected to gather. Local authorities are concerned about possible clashes as counter-protesters also plan to assemble in the city south of Paris.(With agency inputs from ANI & Reuters)