Daijiworld Media Network – Paris

Paris, Sep 10: Roads were blocked, fires lit, and tear gas filled the streets of Paris and several other French cities on Wednesday as protesters launched a wave of unrest under the banner of the “Block Everything” movement, challenging President Emmanuel Macron and his newly appointed Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said nearly 200 people were arrested in the opening hours of the nationwide demonstrations, with 80,000 police deployed across the country to contain the turmoil. He alleged that protesters were seeking to create “a climate of insurrection.”

A bus was torched in Rennes, while disruption to a power line halted trains in the southwest. In Paris, demonstrators repeatedly tried to blockade the city’s beltway during morning rush hour, clashing with police and slowing traffic.

Though less intense than the yellow vest protests of Macron’s first term or the unrest following pension reforms and the 2023 police shooting of a teenager, the movement added to the political crisis triggered by Monday’s collapse of the government, when former PM François Bayrou lost a confidence vote.

Macron’s choice of Lecornu as the new prime minister has immediately been put to the test by the leaderless, social media-fueled “Block Everything” campaign. Protesters cite anger at austerity budgets, inequality, and discontent with Macron’s leadership, echoing the grievances of the earlier yellow vest revolt.