“Disappointed” but eager for “hope”, thousands of people gathered on Sunday evening, June 30, at Place de la République in Paris, in support of the New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing coalition that came second in the first round of the early legislative elections.
Around 8,000 people, according to the police, formed a compact crowd chanting “Youth fuck the FN” or “Siamo tutti antifascisti”, while waving flags of La France insoumise (LFI), Young Ecologists, the Socialist Party as well as the Kanak independence flag and the Palestinian flag, noted an AFP journalist.
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“Ensure that fear does not change sides in this country”
Among the protesters, there were a few tears and a lot of applause. Red smoke bombs lit up the night before elected officials took the floor shortly before midnight, standing on a platform.
“We have built this great force that is now expressed before you,” declared LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, cheered by the crowd. “There is no escape, we are here: it is them or us, there is nothing in between.” “And we are not here just to block, to stand with anyone or be against. We are here because we want to change everything,” he added.
“We take our responsibilities and our responsibilities are to ensure that fear does not change sides in this country,” insisted Olivier Besancenot, former presidential candidate for the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA), who concluded his speech with a raised fist, “No pasaran, no pasaran”, echoed in chorus by the crowd.
Olivier Faure praised “a France which for a long time accepted the idea that it was not white and Christian, but that it was mixed, that it accepted all origins, all skin colors, all religions “. For the first secretary of the Socialist Party, “there are people who tell us that we have never tried. We’ve tried them before, we’ve already tried the worst. And that’s why, because we have this memory, we are fighting today.”
Other gatherings across France
Other rallies took place across France. In Lyon, nearly 800 people, according to the prefecture, gathered against the far right, responding to the call of several small anti-fascite and far-left groups. A demonstration across the city was then marked by a few incidents, according to AFP journalists.
At the call of unions and several left-wing organizations, there were several hundred in Nantes to follow the results, then a procession of 600 people, according to the prefecture, marched, before being dispersed around 10:30 p.m. by gas tear gas, noted an AFP photographer. Some 400 people demonstrated in the streets of Lille and around 150 in Rennes.
