The conditions had been designed to bring together as many people as possible.
On this fourth day of mobilization against the pension reform, the unions, who met on a Saturday, won their bet.
According to the Minister of the Interior, nearly 963,000 demonstrators took to the streets - against "
more than 2.5 million
" according to the CGT.
This is less than the million recorded during the first two days, but more than last Tuesday, the figures of which suggested a shortness of breath.
Above all, organizers and politicians have called for watching the expansion of the movement, whether outside Paris or in the profiles of the demonstrators.
"
The surprise comes from this extraordinary mobilization which goes far beyond what we are
," commented the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, before the Parisian procession set off.
“
Macron does not have full powers, the French are ultra-majority to oppose this text
", he added.
In the ranks of the Parisian march, we came across employees, retirees, students or even French people who had come to demonstrate for the first time.
Some parents had even come with their children - a fact widely observed, even used, by the organizers.
The unions, for example, called on the youngest to lead the procession, when the rebellious MP Raquel Garrido arrived alongside other elected officials accompanied by five little girls, brandishing signs and chanting anti-Macron slogans.
“
It's a sign that we have moved on to a more popular, good-natured, family demonstration.
It's good that we are showing our ability to broaden the social base of the movement
, ”rejoiced PS deputy Arthur Delaporte.
“
The government is trying to stigmatize a movement that has been going on for a month in serenity.
I think they are afraid of this determination and this cold anger
, ”added the boss of the LFI deputies, Mathilde Panot.
The presence of children did not however prevent the overflows, and the atmosphere turned out to be more tense than during previous demonstrations, as feared by the police, pointing in particular to the arrival of "yellow vests" .
At the head of the course, hooded individuals repeatedly started wild fires, even setting fire to a vehicle.
The intervention of the firefighters as well as that of the police made it possible to keep the group away from the rest of the union procession.
Towards an acceleration of the challenge
The demonstration took place in large part in "
calm
", however assured the organizers, who no longer exclude, from now on, to accelerate in the dispute.
Not to mention a renewable strike, the intersyndicale said on Saturday morning that it wanted to put “
France at a standstill
” on March 7 if the bill was not withdrawn.
Before that, a new rally is scheduled for Thursday, February 16.
But if this new more offensive strategy is adopted, it will be supported by the left, which has reaffirmed following the methods desired by the unions.
"
Better a few days of hardship than having a life of misery
," repeated Mathilde Panot, confident in the idea that public opinion will not hold demonstrators responsible for possible blockages.
“
For now, it is the government that is shutting down the country
,” added ecologist Cyrielle Châtelain.
In the Parisian procession, many demonstrators called for the social movement to be hardened as quickly as possible, in the face of a government which turned
a deaf ear
.
Read also Pension reform: record mobilizations in certain large cities
In the meantime, the Nupes parliamentarians have hammered home their desire to put pressure on the government.
Still playing the united front card, representatives of the left present in Paris side by side denounced “49-3 in disguise” – the executive employing article 47-1 to examine the text in accelerated legislative time.
Certain strategic differences in the battle to be waged in the National Assembly have however been heard, after a week enamelled by several controversies, like the heckling caused by the first speech of Adrien Quatennens.
"Making the majority face up to its responsibilities"
“
There are things that we could still dispense with
,” lamented some elected officials, particularly from the Socialist Party.
The day before, the Insoumis Thomas Portes thus found himself excluded for fifteen days after having posed with a football bearing the effigy of the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt.
The chosen one was welcomed in the procession to the applause of a handful of activists, and the sanction was mostly considered disproportionate.
But the Socialists still denounced an “
inadmissible
” gesture.
Read alsoExclusion of Thomas Portes from the Assembly: Raquel Garrido denounces an “abuse of power”
Time management in the debates also remains a point of tension.
Should we withdraw some of the thousands of Nupes amendments to accelerate and complete the examination of the text, or continue to obstruct?
“
We want a vote on article 7
” which concerns raising the starting age, said CGT boss Philippe Martinez during the day.
“
It would show who are the parliamentarians who vote for this reform, it would prevent them from clearing themselves by using the opposition
”, also pleads Arthur Delaporte.
Adds to him, for the attention of his most hesitant colleagues: “
We have always said that we would be the relays of the social representatives in the Hemicycle.
»