The suspension of the four-day state visit that Charles III, King of England, was to begin this Sunday, has become a spectacular knock on the national and international crisis in France, forcing the president, Emmanuel Macron, to move forward a first gesture towards the unions, when the demonstrations continue to multiply throughout France and Paris offers the painful spectacle of thousands of tons of uncollected garbage, fast food for rats. The official statement from the Élysée, announcing the suspension of the state visit of King Carlos III, confirmed this catastrophe this Friday in barely veiled terms: «The decision has been taken by the French and British governments, after a telephone conversation with the President of the Republic and the King. It is not possible to receive HM the King in the conditions that correspond to our friendship relationship». For days now, banners with Macron disguised as the King of France have been displayed at all protest demonstrations, accompanied by phrases like this: “Macron, contemptuous of the Republic.” The Ministry of the Interior was forced to prohibit the demonstrations in the Parisian Place de la Concorde, formerly Place de la Revolucion, where Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were guillotined. In that same place, which is part of the highest symbolic national geography, the demonstrators shouted in chorus, against the current head of state: “Murderer!”, “We guillotined Louis XVI, we can continue!”. Given the nihilistic and apocalyptic nature of these provocations, the repetition of demonstrations of this type, in front of the Palace of Versailles, a former royal residence, during the state visit of the King of England, would have run the risk of provoking more serious and painful incidents. Standard Related News Yes Night of violence and fires in Paris and other French cities Juan Pedro Quiñonero There have been 140 street fires and 170 people have been arrested Humiliation From a national point of view, the event was perceived as a pathetic humiliation. Eric Ciotti, leader of The Republicans (traditional right), declared: “The suspension of the state visit of the King of England is a shame for our country.” «France – he continued – is caught in a trap, between the insurrectionary demagogy of the extreme left and the disoriented impotence of the Government. Violence undermines France’s credibility. The world looks at us in astonishment.” On the extreme left, the reactions were more brutal. “The French monarchy is faltering,” declared Clementine Autain, a radical environmentalist, with bloody irony. Fabien Roussel, general secretary of the PCF, ironized another way: “Since he will not receive the King of England, it is to be hoped that Macron will be able to receive the unions.” Accepting this humiliation of the State, Macron hastened to launch a brief and imprecise probe balloon to the unions, declaring: «I am willing to discuss with the unions issues related to usury at work, the end of a working career, professional retraining, the remuneration…”. Without naming the problem of retirement at 64, the cardinal point of the crisis, the president suggests an eventual dialogue, without substantially changing his position of principle: «There is a democratic path that must take its course. We must continue. The country cannot stop. Until now, the unions, the left-wing, extreme left, environmentalist and extreme-right opposition have called for the pure and simple withdrawal of the bill to reform the national pension system approved by decree, without parliamentary debate. Appeals have been filed before the Constitutional Court, calling for a national referendum is requested. According to a poll published yesterday by the conservative morning paper ‘Le Figaro’, 76% of the French reject Macron’s arguments in defense of his pension reform, which would only be approved by 23% of the French. According to a poll published yesterday by the conservative morning paper ‘Le Figaro’, 76% of the French reject Macron’s arguments in defense of his pension reform The suspension of the King of England’s state visit immediately fueled a rosary of demonstrations hostile to Macron. In Paris, the railwaymen paralyzed traffic at the Gare du Est for several hours. In the capital and other large cities, such as Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Grenoble, architecture schools organized protest rallies. An imprecise number of institutes and universities participated in processions with a lot of anti-Macron shouting. Refineries are partially blocked, causing fuel shortages in some regions. The Parisian garbage collectors’ strike threatens to last until next week. Violence in the streets When the days of strikes and demonstrations have taken a harder course, confirming a process of radicalization of a substantial part of the youth, Macron insisted yesterday afternoon on his “law and order” policy: “We will not give in before the blackmail of street violence. We have witnessed extremely violent scenes, fires. Our gendarmes have been victims of totally disproportionate attacks, committed by extraordinarily violent militants equipped for violence.” This is another source of contention. The extreme left accuses the state security forces of “indiscriminate violence.” The Ministry of the Interior denounces “violence with murderous intent” by various extremist groups. Faced with this fundamental debate, the Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg, yesterday took an equidistant position, declaring in an official statement: “It is up to the authorities to protect demonstrations against police violence and against violent individuals, while margin of the union parades».
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism