France asks mayors to impose curfews after weekend of riots

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has asked local authorities to impose partial curfews as the government scrambles to address widespread rioting that has roiled the country for two days.

Details of the curfews have yet to be announced, but officials in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, banned all public gatherings between noon and 8 p.m. local time on Monday.

Mr. Lecornu held an emergency cabinet meeting Monday morning to discuss the violence, which has appeared to overwhelm police at times.

“I am absolutely determined to restore order,” Mr. Lecornu told reporters after the meeting. He added that “a state of emergency is still a very serious measure, including in terms of its implementation. So if it is necessary, of course we could do it.”

Several cities experienced a second night of mayhem on Sunday as gangs roamed streets and clashed with police. Serge Papin, the Minister of Commerce, said 3,000 businesses across the country had been damaged or looted over the weekend.

Violent protests rock France ahead of spring presidential elections

In Paris, the violence was largely contained to the central area around Les Halles, where dozens of shops and restaurants were looted. Among the targets was the BHV Marais department store, which is just steps away from City Hall. Rioters broke one of the store’s glass doors and pilfered as much as they could carry.

As morning broke on Monday, several streets in the capital were littered with broken glass. Commuters had to step around piles of charred bicycles, garbage bins and trash that had been set on fire. On Rue Saint-Denis, a burned-out car sat next to a store with smashed windows. Graffiti scrawled across one downtown wall read, “Introduction to the civil war.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez offered to resign on Monday after acknowledging that police were ill prepared for the rioting and lacked proper intelligence. His resignation was not accepted by President Emmanuel Macron, who instructed Mr. Nuñez to carry out a review of the shortcomings.

Police arrested 130 people in Paris on Sunday night. There were 2,300 arrests on Saturday when more than 500,000 people took to the streets in several cities to protest the government. While most of those marches were peaceful, some deteriorated into the worst violence France has experienced in years.

In an address to the country Sunday night, Mr. Macron expressed his anger and shame at the rioting. “Those who destroyed must pay. Those who looted must reimburse,” he said.

Mr. Macron also urged local mayors to consider curfews, but his authority has largely waned. He’s nearing the end of his second term in office and is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election. Mr. Lecornu is also hamstrung because his government does not have majority support in the National Assembly.

With presidential elections slated for spring, politicians on all sides have blamed each other for the recent violence and weeks of protests by disgruntled students.

Much of the finger pointing has been aimed at Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the far-left France Unbowed. Mr. Mélenchon has been outspoken in his support of the protests and was at the front of the march through Paris on Saturday.

Mr. Lecornu and others have accused him of fomenting violence. “It has been demonstrated that we have an ultraleft movement, which wants to organize deep disorder in the country until the presidential election,” Mr. Lecornu said on Monday. He challenged Mr. Mélenchon to choose whose side he was on: the police or the rioters.

Mr. Mélenchon said years of government inaction were to blame for the unrest. “The choice is between a population and its youth, plunged into a deep crisis, and a government that always uses the same methods: letting things fester and blind violence,” Mr. Mélenchon posted in French on X. Mr. Lecornu, he added, was “a pathetic figure at the head of a government where he no longer controls anything.”

One of the main political beneficiaries of the crisis has been Marine Le Pen, the presidential candidate for the far-right National Rally. She has criticized Mr. Mélenchon for “legitimizing violence” but also taken aim at Mr. Macron and Mr. Lecornu for failing to restore order.

“We are experiencing a crisis of confidence that poses a threat to democracy,” she said in a video statement Sunday.

She added: “France cannot, must not and will never get used to such scenes. Today, I call on all French people for calm, dignity and republican restraint.”

So far her law-and-order message has resonated with many voters. Polls show her well ahead in the run-up to the first round of the presidential election in April. Mr. Mélenchon is trailing her in second place and both could advance to the runoff in May, with Ms. Le Pen the likely winner.

There is little sign that the protests are over, and the country is bracing for more violence.

On Monday a group of art students blocked the entrance of the Louvre, forcing it to close. And in a message posted on social media, protest organizers announced plans for another rally in Paris on Saturday, calling it “Acte II.”