PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th April, 2023) More than 100 people were arrested in Paris during the Friday demonstration against the controversial pension reform approved by the French Constitutional Council, BFMTV reports citing police.
On Friday, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported that hundreds of people had gathered in front of the Paris City Hall, protesting against the adoption of the pension reform. Protesters also started to fill the city streets, overturning and setting trash containers on fire and breaking storefront glass. According to a RIA Novosti correspondent, police used tear gas against the demonstrators.
BFMTV reported that about 4,000 demonstrators gathered in Paris on Friday, with law enforcement officers arresting a total of 112 people.
Local media reported that police also used tear gas against demonstrators in Lyon. About 200-300 people gathered in front of the city prefecture on Friday evening, according to Lyon Mag.
Earlier on Friday, the French Constitutional Council approved the key article of the pension reform bill, which would gradually raise the age of retirement in France from 62 to 64 years by 2030.
French President Emmanuel Macron is slated to sign the bill within 48 hours, French media reported.
French unions urged President Macron not to sign the pension reform bill and called on the country's population to go on a general nationwide strike against the reform on May 1, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) said on Friday.
On March 16, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced that the government had adopted a law on raising the retirement age to 64 by invoking Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allowed the bill to get passed without parliamentary approval. The decision sparked a strong backlash, prompting people to take to the streets across the country.
