Massive Demo In France, Nearly 300 People Arrested

UNSPLASH/Martti Salmi ILLUSTRATION

Protesters across the French region took to the streets to disrupt traffic, burn trash cans and clash with police.

This 'block Everything' demo is a form of anger against President Emmanuel Macron, political institutions, and plans to cut the budget.

Tens of thousands of security forces deployed removed the blockade as quickly as possible.

Nearly 300 protesters have been arrested across France.

Many demonstrators vented their anger on Macron, which has faced political turmoil after parliamentary opposition united to defeat its government on Monday.

The president appointed a close ally as his new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu. French PM faces the same challenge of controlling France's swelling debt as its predecessor.

"This is the same problem, this is the same problem, it is Macron who is the problem, not the ministers," said Fred, a representative of the RATP public transport branch of the CGT union in a protest in Paris.

"He has to step down," he said.

In Paris, police fired tear gas at the youths who blocked the entrance to an upper-middle school and firefighters cleared the remains of the arson from the barricades.

Police said they stopped a large group of about 1,000 protesters from entering the city's Gare du Nord train station.

"I expect the disbandment (parlement) or the prime minister of the left wing, but we don't get both. This is frustrating," said Lisa Venier, an 18-year-old student, who was among the protesters near Gare du Nord.

Protesters set fire to buses in the western French city of Rennes, Home Affairs Minister Bruno Retailleau told reporters.

He also said some protesters had attacked police with large stones, but did not specify the exact location.

Retailleau warned that scheduled demonstrations in the afternoon could be infiltrated by hard-line and ultra-left groups and lead to violence.

The broad unsatisfied "block Everything" movement without centralized leadership and organized ad hoc on social media appeared online in May among right-wing groups, according to researchers and officials.

This movement reflects public dissatisfaction with what protesters consider a dysfunctional ruling elite that teaches painful savings.

The movement was compared with the 2018 "Linging Rompi" protests, which emerged as a result of rising fuel prices but later turned into a broader movement against Macron and its economic reform plans.