French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday that 11,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed on January 31 to ensure security at nationwide demonstrations against a draft pension reform
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th January, 2023) French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday that 11,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed on January 31 to ensure security at nationwide demonstrations against a draft pension reform.
The first wave of demonstrations against the reform, which would raise the country's retirement age, took place on January 19. More than 200 protests are expected to take place across France in the second wave on Tuesday.
"Eleven thousand policemen and gendarmes will be mobilized throughout France on this day, with 4,000 in Paris. Thus, there will be 1,000 more police officers than on the previous day of the nationwide demonstration," Darmanin said, as aired by French broadcaster BFMTV.
On January 10, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented a draft pension reform legislation, which the government plans to implement in September. According to Borne's plan, the French government will begin to raise the retirement age in the country by three months per year from September 1, gradually increasing it from the current age of 62 to 64 by 2030.
Over 200 strikes were held across France in the first protest wave, with the largest protests taking place in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, and Nantes. The French Interior Ministry said that more than 1 million people took part in the rallies. Thirty eight people were detained during the protests.
