A demonstration was organized this Saturday, September 7 in Paris to denounce Emmanuel Macron’s “coup de force” after the appointment of Michel Barnier as Prime Minister.
There were between 26,000, according to the Paris police prefecture, and 160,000 people according to LFI, in Paris this Saturday, September 7, in the afternoon, to contest the nomination of Michel Barnier to Matignon.
According to the Paris police prefecture, five people were arrested during the demonstration. According to the police, these arrests were made for carrying a prohibited weapon, throwing projectiles and causing damage during this demonstration which started around 2:30 p.m. from Place de la Bastille towards Place de la Nation.
These mobilizations, according to the organizers, including La France Insoumise, but also the Ecologists, the Communist Party, the NPA and Génération.s, were to take place “in some 150 marches and gatherings across France.”
Mélenchon reiterates censorship ambition, Barnier sets first priority
In the Parisian parade, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was notably present among the demonstrators. The founder of the Insoumis spoke there to announce that “whatever happens, we will vote for the censure of such a government in the National Assembly”.
At the same time, the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier made his first official trip in the middle of the afternoon, going to the Necker hospital in the 15th arrondissement of Paris to meet with AP-HP healthcare staff.
“Public health will be a priority for the government. I would like progress to be rapid,” Michel Barnier stressed during a press briefing at the end of his visit to the establishment. “Give me a few weeks, don’t be too impatient,” he nevertheless recalled, while he had affirmed that he was not there “to make announcements or show off,” but rather to “understand in order to act.”
“The government is under the democratic surveillance of all French people and all political groups which are made up of deputies, representatives of the people in their diversity,” Michel Barnier also said after his visit to Necker hospital.
Vincent Vantighem, with Alexis Lalemant
