Macron Vows to Ban 'Illegitimate' Protests as France Braces for Further Unrest

On Thursday, after a special security meeting at the Elysee Palace with intelligence chiefs and senior ministers, President Emmanuel Macron announced that demonstrations organized by groups without legitimate authority would be banned in the coming days. The announcement followed the worst urban unrest France has seen in years.

Macron placed the blame for last Saturday on ultra-left groups. He called the events political and seditious acts whose aim, in his words, was to bring down the Republic. His general recommendation was that no demonstrations be held in the coming days, because the government wants calm to return. The ban, he said, is meant to protect city centers, businesses and public buildings.

He left some room for organized labor. Where trade unions submit requests to demonstrate, prefects will examine them under the law, but alternative routes will be proposed.

The restrictions were already taking hold. After the weekend's violence, several cities imposed curfews on certain parts of town. Protests planned for Thursday in Paris, Lyon, Lille and Grenoble were banned. Even so, thousands gathered in Paris after a local court was said to have overturned that day's ban on the demonstration there. Authorities say a massive security operation is planned for the coming weekend to prevent a repeat of the last one.

The movement began in September at a school near Paris, over a lack of funding for the education system. It spread to other Paris suburbs and then to other French cities, widening along the way to take in the soaring cost of living and deteriorating public services. On October 17 it turned into the worst unrest in years: masked rioters clashed with police, looted shops and set cars and buildings on fire. French media reported that two people have been arrested over an arson attack on the 19th-century city hall in Limoges.

The toll was heavy. Across the country there were around 2,700 arrests last weekend, and hundreds of protesters, police officers and firefighters were injured. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said courts had jailed 217 people in fast-track trials linked to the rioting, and that this figure was continuing to rise a lot.

The groups behind the protests are not stepping back. Student and university groups and unions say they will keep mobilizing. UNEF, France's main student union, has called for rallies on Saturday. The Yellow Vest movement, whose protests over fuel prices shook the country in 2018 and 2019, has filed plans for a march through central Paris.

Macron also pointed to dialogue. Talks among authorities, student groups, unions and employers are set for Monday, and he stressed that conversation about protesters' legitimate demands should continue. The unrest comes just months before next year's presidential election, when voters will choose his successor. This weekend will show how the ban is enforced against the rallies already called, and whether the Monday talks can follow.