PARIS. New day of mobilization in France, where tens of thousands of people took to the streets for the eleventh protest against the pension reform wanted by the government of French President Emmanuel Macron and which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64. The presence of the forces of order is also huge with 4,200 agents in the field in Paris alone, as reported by the broadcaster Bfmtv.
In the capital, an hour after the departure of the procession from the Place des Invalides, eight people have already been arrested, as reported by the Police Headquarters which speaks of 1,330 checks carried out. Numerous demonstrators also in other places in France.
In Rennes, 20 thousand people are demonstrating according to the unions, while for the prefecture there are 8,500 demonstrators, against 13,600 last time. According to the unions, there are 60,000 protesters in Bordeaux, less than 10,000 for the prefecture. In Lyon, on the other hand, 13,000 demonstrators were identified according to the police headquarters, 32,000 according to the organizers. According to the authorities, 400 thugs are also part of the procession. Here two people were arrested and the prefecture reports three injured officers and a demonstrator.
The polls are against Macron
Inatnto Marine Le Pen continues to have the wind in the sails in the polls even if the next presidential elections are still far away, in 2027. According to an Ifop-Fiducial study for Le Figaro Magazine and Sud-Radio, the candidate defeated by Emmanuel Macron in the race to The Eliseo of 2017 and 2022 would collect 31% of preferences in the first round if the vote for the most important seat in France were to be held on Sunday. A result that the parent company of the Rassemblement National would only obtain in the case of a single candidacy to the left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon (22%) and against the former premier, Edouard Philippe, as the candidate of the current Macronist majority (28%). In 2022, Macron – who cannot run again for a third term – collected 28% in the first round, Le Pen 23% and Mélenchon 22%. If the left does not present itself united, the candidate with the tricolor bleu-blanc-rouge flame would still come in the lead, with 29% ahead of Edouard Philippe (26%). Le Pen’s image «has completely changed and so has the structure of her vote. It is no longer a Front National vote of yesteryear, it is now a catch-all vote», explains the head of Ifop, Frédéric Dabi. In the France of the protests against the pension reform, Le Pen and her 87 deputies are keeping a low profile, showing a sober and disciplined image that is positively reflected in the polls. Macron, sources close to him say, would not sleep there at night. Another Ifop study reveals that the majority consider Le Pen “close to the concerns of the French” (58%, +2 points in one year), have “democratic values” at heart (57%, +4 points), be “competent » (52%, +6 points) and «capable of reforming the country» (51%, +8 points). 47% also believe that she has “the stature of a President of the Republic” (+5 points).