Former French first lady Carla Bruni ridiculed the mayor of Paris by posing with a huge pile of rubbish as protests over pension reform continue.
The latest round of protests against a bill adopted by the French parliament, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, has been taking place since Thursday and has led to hundreds of arrests across the country.
Paris police said Tuesday that 234 people were arrested overnight in the capital, mostly for setting garbage on the streets on fire. A strike by Parisian garbage collectors has started its 16th day today.
In an Instagram post Tuesday for her 772,000 followers, containing various flower emojis, singer-model Bruni, 55, wrote: ‘Printemps!!! Ecco spring! Here is spring! Thank you @annehidalgo’.
Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor referred to in the post, has said she fully supports the strikers and refuses to help the police.
In an Instagram post Tuesday for her 772,000 followers, containing various flower emojis, singer-model Bruni, 55, wrote: ‘Printemps!!! Ecco spring! Here is spring! Thank you @annehidalgo’
Overflowing trash cans on the streets as collectors go on strike in Paris, France, on March 20, 2023.
Bruni, the wife of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been known to make political statements on her social media accounts in the past.
In April 2021, he attacked the wake-up culture sweeping France in a lengthy Instagram post.
She wrote: ‘Little by little and without warning, do-gooders and censorship have taken over.
“Haunted by their image as upholders of morality, a lot of people without culture, without experience and without courage are trying to impose their narrow-minded ideas on us.”
As protests over pension reform continue, some of Paris’s legendary narrow streets are even more congested than usual, forcing people on foot to file single file past piles of rubbish.
French riot police CRS secure the area near burning trash cans during a demonstration to protest the French government’s use of article 49.3, a special clause of the French Constitution, to push forward the reform bill of pensions through the National Assembly without the vote of legislators. , in Paris on March 18, 2023
A man walks past a fire made of mattresses and rubbish bins amid a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023.
A pedestrian walks past full garbage bins in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris as garbage collectors protest against pension reforms, leaving many streets of the capital littered with stinking rubbish on March 17, 2023.
On some of the most prestigious avenues in central Paris, firefighters rushed to put out burning piles of rubbish that went uncollected for days because of strikes as protesters played tag with police for a fifth night.
The City Council said that as of Monday, 9,300 tons of garbage remained on the streets, less than 10,000 days ago.
Macron pushed his second-term exhibition legislation through Parliament last week, without a vote, thanks to a special constitutional article.
On Monday, the government won two no-confidence motions filed by angry lawmakers. The bill is now considered approved.
People carry an object next to a fire during clashes at a demonstration to protest the French government’s use of Article 49.3, a special clause of the French Constitution, to push forward the pension reform project through the National Assembly without the vote of legislators, in Nantes, France, on March 18, 2023
A barricade burns as protesters block traffic on the Paris peripheral boulevard in the morning hours to distribute leaflets against the French government’s pension reform.
Illustration and view of the garbage overflowing in the streets of Paris due to the strike of the garbage collectors related to the pension reform of the French government on March 18, 2023
Garbage bags and containers have served as fuel for rioters, who swept through Paris on Monday night setting fires, as they have done after recent protests. At least 100 people were arrested.
Littering is a good way to protest. It has a big impact,” said Tony Gibierge, 36, who is opening a restaurant in several months on a street in southern Paris, a street currently littered with rubbish.
Paris police said Tuesday that 234 people were arrested overnight in the capital, mainly for setting garbage on fire in the streets amid clashes between protesters and security forces.
Paris police authorities said in a statement on Tuesday that they ordered garbage workers to work to ensure a “minimum service.” He said 674 employees have been covered by the orders, allowing 206 garbage trucks to operate since last week.
Macron has planned a series of political meetings on Tuesday with the prime minister, parliamentary leaders and lawmakers from his centrist alliance.
Pedestrians react as they walk past a fire made from garbage containers during a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023.
A man walks past a fire made of mattresses and rubbish bins amid a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023.
The French president, who has made the pension plan a centerpiece of his second term, will speak on national television on Wednesday for the first time since he made the decision last week to use a government’s special constitutional power to force approval. of the bill in parliament. The move prompted two no-confidence motions against the government in the lower house of parliament that were rejected on Monday.
Macron’s office announced that the president would break his silence on Wednesday and give a live television interview to broadcasters TF1 and France at 1:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT).
Another round of union-organized strikes and protests was called for on Thursday and is expected to paralyze public transport again.
