Thousands of protesters, including France‘s newly crowned Nobel literature laureate, piled into the streets of Paris on Sunday, in a show of anger against the bite of rising prices and cranking up pressure on the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
People gather for a protest march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. French Nobel laureate for literature Annie Ernaux. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
The march for wage increases and other demands was organized by left-wing opponents of Macron and lit the fuse on what promises to be an uncomfortable week for his centrist government.
People gather for a protest march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Transport strikes called for Tuesday threaten to dovetail with wage strikes that have already hobbled fuel refineries and depots, sparking chronic gasoline shortages that are fraying nerves among millions of workers and other motorists dependent on their vehicles, with giant lines forming at gas stations.
People gather for a march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Macron’s government is also on the defensive in parliament, where it lost its majority in legislative elections in June. That is making it much harder for his centrist alliance to implement his domestic agenda against strengthened opponents, and parliamentary discussion of the government’s budget plan for next year is proving particularly difficult.
People gather for a march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
In a firebrand speech to the Paris march, far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon charged that Macron is “fried” and that his leadership is plunging France into “chaos.”
Demonstrators walks past a poster depicting French energy giant TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne during demonstration against the bite of rising prices and cranking up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 in Paris. The march for wage increases and other demands was organized by left-wing opponents of Macron and lit the fuse on what promises to be an uncomfortable week for his centrist government. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
He predicted that Macron’s ministers would have to ram the budget through parliament’s lower house without giving lawmakers a vote — a controversial prospect that provoked loud boos from the crowd.
People gather for a protest against the rising cost of life and climate change in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Organizers claimed that more than 140,000 protesters marched. Paris police said they didn’t have an immediate estimate for the size of the dense flag-waving crowd that filled squares and streets. There were a few outbreaks of vandalism on the margins, with garbage bins set on fire and bank machines smashed. Riot police kept order.
French deputy Sandrine Rousseau joins people who gathered for a protest march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Demonstrating at Mélenchon’s side was French author Annie Ernaux, who won the Nobel Prize for literature this year. Mélenchon — twice beaten by Macron in presidential elections — declared the protest “an immense success.”
far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, second right, talks to French Nobel laureate for literature Annie Ernaux, second left, during. demonstration in a show of anger against the bite of rising prices and cranking up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 in Paris. The march for wage increases and other demands was organized by left-wing opponents of Macron and lit the fuse on what promises to be an uncomfortable week for his centrist government. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Organizers called it a “march against the high cost of living and climate inaction.” As well as calling for massive investment against the climate crisis, they also demanded emergency measures against high prices, including freezes in the costs of energy, essential goods and rents, and for greater taxation of windfall profits.
People sit in a shelter as they gather with others for a protest march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Lawmaker Christophe Bex of the left-wing party France Insoumise — or France Unbowed — called the march “a demonstration of strength” to show “that another world is finally possible if we are all together and all united.”
French leftwing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, center, leads a protest march against the high cost of living and climate inaction in Paris, France, Sunday Oct. 16, 2022. Marchers are demanding wage increases, greater taxation of windfall profits and other steps to lessen the bite of rising inflation, heeding the call of left-wing parties and trade unionists hoping to crank up pressure on the government of French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Another marcher, retired railway worker Eric Doire, said: “What we want is for everyone to live decently with the purchasing power they had before.”
