Thousands of people all over France took to the streets on Saturday to oppose the decision of President Emmanuel Macron, who appointed Michel Barnier as prime minister on Thursday.
According to the police, the demonstrations in Paris gathered 26 thousand people. In turn, Mathilde Panot, a politician from the far-left party France Untamed (LFI), stated that there were protests in the capital 160k., a 300 thousand throughout the country.
Demonstrations in France. The reason is the election of a new prime minister
There were numerous slogans among the people reminding them that the left took first place in the elections. “This is not what the French voted for” – one of them said. The elections in the second round were won by the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), which includes LFI.
The Left, citing the election result, proposed its candidate for prime minister – Lucie Castets – and demanded that Macron nominate her. The president he refusedarguing that the Castets government would not have a majority in parliament, which would make it impossible to function.
The first demonstrations were initiated by student organizations, which later turned into protests in around 150 cities in France.
France. Series of demonstrations after Macron's decision
The leader encouraged people to take part in the protests. LFI Jean-Luc Melenchon right after Macron appointed Barnier as head of government. The left accuses the president of attacking democracy.
Melenchon announced a vote of no confidence in the government at a demonstration in Paris. Participants signed a petition demanding the president's impeachment.
In the parliamentary elections that ended on July 7, the left-wing bloc NFP won over 180 seats in parliament. The second place was taken by the centrist camp of the presidential Macron, which received over 160 places. National Union, former National Front Marine Le Pentogether with its allies, introduced more than 140 deputiesThe Republicans, Barnier's party, won just over 5 percent of the vote in the election and 47 seats.