Violent protests rock France ahead of spring presidential elections

Aline Li held back tears as she stepped gingerly through the burned-out ruins of her restaurant near Place de la République in central Paris.

She and her family opened La Barrique four years ago, and now there was nothing left but a string of pink plastic roses that decorated the sign. Everything else was destroyed in a matter of hours Saturday afternoon by protesters who had joined a march against the French government. When Ms. Li tried to stave off looters who were pillaging the place and set it on fire, she was punched in the face.

“I feel nothing. It’s the end for me,” she said Sunday morning as she surveyed the damage, her right eye swollen from the blow, a long cut visible across her forehead. “I don’t know what I am supposed to do.”

Her restaurant was among hundreds of businesses damaged during protests across France on Saturday. Organizers say 800,000 people participated, although authorities put the figure closer to 550,000. While most of the demonstrations were peaceful, some deteriorated into the worst violence this country has seen in years.

The Interior Ministry said about 2,000 people were arrested and more than 600 police officers and firefighters were injured. Several government buildings were ransacked, and a fire in the city hall of Limoges caused part of the building to collapse.

In a televised address to the country Sunday night, President Emmanuel Macron promised assistance to those affected and the swift prosecution of wrongdoers.

“Those who destroyed must pay. Those who looted must reimburse,” he said. Referring to the violence, he added: “Nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it.”

He also ordered an investigation into why police lacked the intelligence to anticipate the destruction and called on mayors to “take any action necessary” to protect cities, public buildings and businesses.

The government’s duty, he said, is “to listen to the anger and act on its causes − and firmly enforce the Republican order.”

France has been beset by demonstrations for the past month, led mainly by high school students protesting classroom conditions. Saturday’s marches were the largest yet and included a wider spectrum of participants and grievances.

The violence continued into Sunday with small groups smashing shop windows and setting fires around Paris.

Protests are nothing new in France, but the current unrest is happening at a critical moment and is fuelled by resentments the government seems unable to address.

Mr. Macron is in the final months of his second term and is constitutionally prohibited from running for a third, making him a lame duck president. The National Assembly is at a virtual standstill because no party or coalition can form a majority. Meanwhile, government finances have been hamstrung by soaring debt, which has put pressure on social services.

Voters have become so fed up with the status quo that polls show the leading candidates for next spring’s presidential election are Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally and Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the far-left France Unbowed.

“We are in a very bad situation, and I have no memory of a situation as bad as this,” said Pierre Mathiot, a political science professor at Lille’s Sciences Po university, which was forced to close last week because of a student rebellion. “Unfortunately, we have no politicians at the moment who are able to be good leaders for the nation.”

Aya Belqadhi came to Place de la République on Saturday with her friends, Jay Marley and Calla Bartlett Larragan, to voice their anger at the cost of living and the lack of opportunities for young people. All three said their lives represent the hopelessness many young people feel.

Ms. Belqadhi, 24, graduated from university and planned to attend graduate school to study international trade. But she could not get a place in a master’s program and now works at a gas station.

Ms. Marley, 22, wants to study music but can’t afford the tuition and can’t find a job. Ms. Bartlett Larragan, 19, is a film student who says that by the time she graduates in two years, artificial intelligence will have wiped away many of the few jobs available.

“We’re all pissed at the government. We’re all pissed at everything. It’s not working,” Ms. Bartlett Larragan said.

They weren’t deterred Saturday when police started using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades against a group of protesters in the plaza. The violence quickly escalated, and within hours several cars had been set on fire, store windows smashed and dozens of shops and restaurants pillaged.

“We thought it was going to be pretty safe, and it’s not,” Ms. Belqadhi said as she ducked at the sound of a stun grenade. “The police don’t scare us. It just shows that we have to protest even harder.”

By the time the march finally got under way, more than 100,000 people had made their way to Place de Clichy in a largely peaceful procession. They waved flags, carried signs that read, “They don’t really care about us” and chanted, “ACAB,” − “all police are bastards.”

The growing uncertainly over the country’s future deepened last week when members of parliament began debating the government’s 2027 budget, which includes €43-billion ($68-billion) in cuts to social programs as part of a plan to lower the deficit to 5 per cent of gross domestic product from 5.4 per cent.

The proposed measures have already faced fierce opposition, and few analysts expect MPs to approve the budget, leaving France facing months of turmoil ahead of two rounds of presidential voting in April and May.

Most economists say that even if the budget were adopted, rising interest costs would push the deficit back to 5.4 per cent of GDP in 2027. That will add more to the national debt, which at €3.6-trillion, or about 119 per cent of GDP, is already among the highest in Europe. And if all that wasn’t bad enough, last week the respected French Institute of Economics said it expects economic growth to be 0.5 per cent next year, half what the government forecast.

“Things are more extreme than in other, similar times,” said Antonio Fatas, a professor of economics at INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau, France. He fears the country’s weak finances and extreme political volatility could provoke a Europe-wide debt crisis similar to what happened in 2012 with Greece.

“Some of the ingredients are very similar, and France is even more central to the EU than Greece or Portugal or Spain were in 2012,” he said.

Yanni Mercier and his partner, Danae Cochard, said they’re fed up with the growing inequality in France and joined a protest for the first time on Saturday.

“We feel abandoned by the government,” Mr. Mercier said as the couple waited in Place de la République. They’re both 28 and have good jobs − he’s an accountant in a wealth management company, and Ms. Cochard works in administration in a hospital. But they still struggle to pay rent and can barely afford other necessities, and owning a home is out of reach.

The couple have never been politically active but are backing Mr. Mélenchon in the presidential election. He’s the radical shake-up France needs right now, Mr. Mercier said. “We have to have hope.”