Macron Criticized for Dancing at Celine Dion Concert Amid Unrest

Emmanuel Macron faced criticism after attending a Celine Dion concert in Paris, even as France prepared for another day of protests, clashes and unrest.

Yellow Vest activists were set to join student-led marches on Saturday, while riot police had already deployed tear gas at several flashpoints. Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to demonstrate across the country.

The 48-year-old president was condemned for appearing relaxed at the Plenitude Arena on Friday night with his wife, Brigitte, 73. The couple were seen dancing and enjoying the performance from a private box.

Within hours, violence had erupted in Paris, Marseille and other cities. Authorities said 61 people had been arrested in the capital alone by 11am on Saturday, while the nationwide total had reached 166.

Students, trade unionists and members of the remaining Yellow Vest movement are joining the demonstrations over deteriorating school conditions, rising prices and what they describe as France’s increasingly fragile social model.

By mid-morning, fires were burning in several cities as protesters erected makeshift barricades and confronted police officers.

Roads near Paris’s Gare du Nord and the offices of right-wing media organisation CNews were blocked. Police also fired tear gas at demonstrators in Marseille and Lyon.

Businesses across the affected areas boarded up windows and doors, while several Paris Metro stations were closed as authorities responded to the unrest.

Macron had appealed for calm the previous night, urging protesters to show “respect for people and property”.

A police source said up to 200,000 people could take part in demonstrations across France on Saturday, including an estimated 40,000 in Paris.

The initial wave of protests began last month at high schools in Paris’s poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards.

The protests come at a difficult time for France, as President Emmanuel Macron enters the final stretch of his presidency, leaving behind a polarised electorate and a fragmented domestic political situation. 

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Investors ditching French debt, driving borrowing costs to their highest levels in more than two decades, have also underlined the country’s long struggle to get its public finances in order.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Thursday that authorities fear unrest during the protests. The government blames the hard-Left France Unbowed (LFI) for inflaming the protests, an accusation LFI denies.

‘This is a moment of fatigue in the country,’ Lecornu said. ‘We are in an atmosphere of perma-crisis: wars, inflation, and issues surrounding purchasing power.’

Opposition chief Jordan Bardella, whose far-Right National Rally leads in the polls ahead of next year’s presidential election, said he expected violence.

‘I’m extremely concerned,’ he said during a visit to the Paris car show. ‘It will be a day of chaos for France.’

Lecornu has said the recent protests have been among the most violent in decades, with more than 900 police injured so far. 

The police have also drawn criticism for their response after reports of serious injuries sustained by protesters, including one 15-year-old who had his hand blown off after picking up a police stun grenade, and a 16-year-old who was blinded by a rubber bullet.

An officer was charged with aggravated violence on Tuesday after allegedly firing the bullet at the student in Tours, France on Sept 30. The family of the injured pupil have blamed the force. 

The internal police watchdog is investigating at least two dozen cases of alleged police violence. France suspended the use of stun grenades for the student demonstrations, but Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said they could be used in Saturday’s protest.

‘If there were to be clashes, all types of intermediate weapons can be used,’ he told Telematin on Friday.

Calls on social media for members of past protest movements to join the fray appear to have worked, raising questions about just how large the protests could grow.

The Yellow Vest movement started in 2018 as a protest against taxes on diesel before morphing into an outpouring of anger at high living costs and income inequality. However, things have been largely quiet since Macron agreed to billions of euros in tax cuts.

Yannick Maillou, a teacher from La Crèche in western France, joined the Yellow Vests in 2018 and remains involved in the movement. He said there were several nearby meeting points for protesters to gather on Saturday, with unions also calling on their members to join.

‘Groups of people providing medical assistance are forming in anticipation of police violence,’ he said.

Myrtil Devillers, another Yellow Vest protester, said he was sympathetic to the protesters’ ‘explosive catch-all of grievances’ although he won’t be protesting on Saturday as he is abroad.

‘I was a Yellow Vest protester when petrol cost €1.40 a litre, so imagine how I feel now that it’s €2.20,’ he said.

‘The justice system is complaining; the education system is complaining; the healthcare sector is complaining; my friends who run businesses are complaining.’