Paris police and demonstrators clash for the third night over Macron's pension reform

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Paris police clashed with demonstrators for the third night on Saturday, as thousands marched across the country amid anger at the government that pushed through an increase in the state pension age without a parliamentary vote, Reuters reports.

With growing unrest and strikes, President Emmanuel Macron faces the greatest challenge to his authority since the so-called "Gilets Jaunes" (Yellow Vests) protests four years ago.

"Macron, resign!" and "Macron will break, we will win," demonstrators chanted at Place d'Italie in southern Paris. Riot police used tear gas and clashed with some in the crowd, while garbage cans were set on fire.

Municipal authorities banned gatherings at the central Paris Place de la Concorde and the nearby Champ-Elysees on Saturday evening, following demonstrations that resulted in 61 arrests the previous night.

Eighty-one people were arrested on Saturday evening.

Earlier, in the French capital, a group of students and activists from the collective "Revolution Permanente" briefly entered the Forum des Halles shopping center, waving banners calling for a general strike and shouting "Paris rise up, rise up.".

BFM television also showed images of ongoing demonstrations in cities such as Compiegne in the north, Nantes in the west, and Marseille in the south. In Bordeaux, in the southwest, police also used tear gas against demonstrators who set a fire.

"The reform must be implemented... Violence cannot be tolerated," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told Le Parisien newspaper. A broad alliance of major French unions announced that they would continue to mobilize to try to force a reversal of the changes. A day of nationwide industrial action is scheduled for Thursday. Garbage is piling up on the streets of Paris after waste workers joined the action. About 37 percent of operational staff at TotalEnergies refineries and depots - at sites including Feyzin in southeastern France and Normandy in the north - were on strike on Saturday," a company spokesperson said. Ongoing strikes continue on the railways.

While eight days of nationwide protests since mid-January and many local industrial actions have been largely peaceful so far, the unrest of the last three days is reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices. Those demonstrations forced Macron to partially reverse course on carbon taxes. Macron's reform raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not collapse.