Protest threatens Macron rule in France after Sebastien Lecornu named as new PM
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau on Wednesday said that 200 people have been arrested as they tried to attempt to block key roads.
Sebastien Lecornu is named as the new Prime Minister of France prompted massive protests in Paris and several other cities as young protesters hit the streets against the Emmanuel Macron-led government under the slogan ‘Block Everything’.
According to local media reports, the protesters carried out blockades at Henri-IV and Lavoisier in the 5th arrondissement (district), Lamartine in the 9th, Voltaire in the 11th, Claude-Monet in the 13th, and Hélène-Boucher in the 20th in the capital, Paris.
Police resorted to firing tear gas shells to disperse the protesters who tried to block the entrance to a high school in Paris.
The police fired stun grenades as thousands of protesters attempted to enter at Gare du Nord station.
Protests have erupted across France after the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister.
He is France’s 5th prime minister in two years.
Marine Tondelier, leader of the Green Party, said that Macron appointed him without consulted other political parties, and the “answer is in the streets.”
Tondelier said “Emmanuel Macron is therefore preparing to appoint a prime minister without consulting the political parties…The answer is in the streets. Tomorrow,”.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a hard-left leader in France, called Lecornu’s appointment as PM a “sad comedy of contempt for Parliament”.
He said that “Only Macron’s departure can put an end to this sad comedy of contempt for Parliament, voters, and political decency.”
