Igor, a Russian who lives in Paris and attends rallies against raising the retirement age, told Gazeta.ru that the police responded with tear gas to the protesters. According to him, there are cases of garbage cans and car arson in the city due to the protests, but “generally the situation is calm.”
“I live in Paris. I’ve been going to rallies for the past three weeks. The situation is generally calm, I saw a few garbage bins burning this week, an electric car burned down from a car-share last year. Sometimes the police fire tear gas, that’s in some places that matter to the police. it’s a method of dispersing people if it gets crowded. I didn’t attend yesterday’s rally because it was an uncoordinated action. At every rally, there are small groups of people who engage in illegal acts: they set garbage cans on fire, they smash shop windows, they provoke the police. I think this is a marginal part of the protest, most of the rallies are correct and “He acts within the limits allowed by the law. I have not personally witnessed it, but I believe that the police treat those who break the law harshly, that is, they can use batons and rubber bullets,” he said.
Igor noted that people of different ages came to rallies against the reform, whereas those who endorsed the reform were mostly “well-paid” people or retirees. According to him, the protests are necessary to attract the attention of the authorities, but the government “does not have to change its decisions” under the law.
“According to surveys, 70 percent are against reform. “Because” are mainly people in well-paid positions or retirees who will not be affected by the reform. There are people of different ages at the rallies, both young and middle-aged. 49.3 of the reform. I protest the implementation of the article and its adoption without a vote in the National Assembly. I believe that bills that cause public outrage should not be accepted in this way. Since the constitutional council has approved the reform, I will attend the next rallies, if any. The rallies are necessary because the task is to draw the attention of the authorities that the bill does not take into account the interests of many sections of society. But the president and his party are acting within the framework of existing laws, and they don’t have to change their minds if they don’t want to,” he said.
Former French Constitutional Council approved The retirement age was raised from 62 to 64. At the same time, the council rejected requests for a referendum on a ban on raising the retirement age and a number of other articles of this bill, including fines for businesses that refuse to employ citizens over 55.
During the protests in Paris on the night of April 15 detained 112 people. In addition, police chief Laurent Nunez reported more than 30 garbage cans set on fire and repeated violence.