WATCH: Bloody Paris Violence Intensifies Amid France Biggest Security Operation
(Photo : Carl Court/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, France saw widespread protests for the 10th day in response to French President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms.

  •  Chaos has erupted in Paris, with masked demonstrators setting items on fire in the streets
  • Riot police are on the streets, trying to subdue angry protestors while avoiding flames during clashes
  • Others shouted insults at Macron, while others yelled out their anger at the police

In a highly tense impasse, France was rocked by yet another wave of strikes, street protests, and isolated violent riots on Tuesday over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform.

The majority of opposition parties, labor unions, and more than two-thirds of the French population are opposed to raising the retirement age, and tensions between Macron and them have risen due to an uptick in violence that occurred on the fringes of last week's largely peaceful marches.

France Protests Worsen

Before Tuesday's protests, authorities deployed 13,000 cops nationwide, including over 5,000 in Paris, where many stores and businesses along a protest march's route had been boarded up. Nonetheless, fewer people joined the demonstrations on Tuesday than last week, and there was a minor decrease in violence. French officials said 740,000 people participated in the nationwide march instead of over a million the week before.

According to a far larger estimate from the labor unions, two million protestors also demanded a new day of protest and struck the following week.

After three months of fighting, Tuesday's disturbances in France were all too familiar: University gates and roads were blocked, trains and planes were postponed, and there were shortages at petrol stations in the west and southeast due to ongoing interruptions at refineries and fuel depots.

Even though one of the major garbage collector unions announced it would call off its strike on Wednesday, trash was still piled up in several Parisian areas, as per NY Times. Macron is now in the challenging position of attempting to calm tensions while moving through with the most divisive policy of his second term: a gradual increase from 62 to 64 of the age at which most workers may begin receiving a government pension if not a full one.

At least 70% of the population opposes the legislation, which was rammed through without the consent of parliament using extraordinary constitutional powers. It is argued that the current system is expensive due to an aging population, yet these arguments about economics are ignored on the streets.

Demonstrators contend that Macron is out of touch, only cares about the wealthy and that someone with such a fervor for the monarchy has no business living in the fifth republic. The Elysée Palace hopes the wave of protests subsides, but it's equally possible that the tumult of demonstrations and the strike will gather even more steam and last for months.

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Emmanuel Macron Unlikely to Halt Pension Reform Plan

Sky News states the current situation is also a significant diversion for the European Union and France. The republic is arguing with itself over how long it should work at a time when it should be concentrating on the cost of living, Ukraine, and the climate disaster.

Meanwhile, days after a state visit by King Charles was canceled due to the violence, anti-government protesters today brought "fire and blood" to the streets of France. Originally scheduled to visit Bordeaux today as part of a four-day state visit to France, King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, had the trip abruptly cut short on Friday.

Daily Mail reported that an attempt was made to burn down the South West city's City Hall, where unions had vowed to barrack the Royal couple.

The protest movement is Macron's second term's largest internal problem, with the strikes on Tuesday also impacting schools, refineries, trash collection, train transportation, and air travel. Strikers shut down the Louvre in Paris, while pickets at gas stations and garbage incinerators persisted, notably around the capital, where 10,000 tonnes of trash still accumulates.

Lawyers' complaints of excessive brutality and arbitrary arrests by paramilitary police groups have exacerbated the problem. The weekend unrest left a 30-year-old guy struggling for his life in a coma after being repeatedly struck over the head with a police baton.

Macron and his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, declared that there was no prospect of backing down from their priority pensions reform despite the violence and industrial standstill.

Related Article: Paris Pension Reform Protests Update

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