French unions and student groups are set to take to the streets for another day of protests on Saturday, while the Yellow Vests movement plans a separate rally in central Paris despite a ban by authorities.
\nThe demonstrations follow weeks of youth-led unrest and nationwide strikes that drew hundreds of thousands of workers protesting over the rising cost of living.
\nThey come less than six months before voters elect a new head of state to replace centrist President Emmanuel Macron, with the far right leading in the opinion polls.
\nStudent groups and trade unions have called for an authorised march in central Paris \u201cagainst the high cost of living and in support of young people\u201d.
\nYellow Vests activists, however, have refused to join, instead calling for a separate rally at Place de la Concorde, near the lower house of parliament and presidential palace, despite a ban by authorities.
\nInterior Minister Laurent Nunez said 70,000 police officers and security forces would be deployed across the country.
\n\u201cIf there are any rioters or looters\u2026 we\u2019ll be ready and waiting for them,\u201d he said.
\nThe demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but there have at times been clashes with police or vandalism on their sidelines, including on October 17, when France saw its worst rioting in years.
\nOn Thursday, hundreds of thousands of striking workers took to the streets across France in mostly orderly protests, although clashes between demonstrators and police broke out in several cities.<\/p>\n
\u2018Mass disobedience\u2019
\nThe Yellow Vests movement, which staged street protests eight years ago against Macron\u2019s government over planned fuel-tax hikes, has called for its banned rally to go ahead.
\n\u201cWe are calling for mass disobedience,\u201d said Benjamin Ball, a member of its coordinating committee.
\nAuthorities are determined to prevent a repeat of the rioting and looting that marred the Oct 17 demonstrations, although the interior ministry said Thursday\u2019s protests had \u201cgenerally gone well\u201d despite 642 arrests.
\nThe police response has faced criticism for being heavy-handed, with dozens of internal investigations launched into allegations of brutality against demonstrators.
\nPrime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has said he will discuss wages and purchasing power with representatives of trade unions and employers\u2019 organisations on Monday.
\n\u201cThe only thing that will bring the protests to an end is a response to the demands that have been put forward for several weeks by workers, civil servants, young people and pensioners,\u201d an inter-union coalition said on Friday.
\nThe unions are calling for an increase in the minimum wage, which has not received any discretionary boost since 2012, across-the-board wage raises, tax reforms and better learning conditions for young people.
\nWith the European Union\u2019s second-largest economy under pressure to rein in debt, the government has limited scope to appease protesters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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