Pension reform: traders worried before the 10th day of mobilization

A new demonstration is planned in Paris and for the tradesmen working on the course the hour is with reflections. If some of them intend to close their shop as the route passes, others prefer to remain open so that their windows and walls are not tagged.

While a tenth day of mobilization against the pension reform is organized this Tuesday, March 28 across France, Parisian traders are already fearing the worst. And some have decided to close their shop ten to fifteen minutes before the arrival of the participants in order to prevent their products from being used as a projectile.

“I’m going to close ten minutes or a quarter of an hour before they (the demonstrators: editor’s note) arrive. We’re starting to get used to it. We cannot remain open during a day of demonstration. We take the risk of having our products serve as a projectile,” explained Christophe, florist, whose shop is located on the course of the event.

Other traders nevertheless prefer to keep their shop open during the passage of the participants but increase their vigilance. “The fact that demonstrators see that there are people in the agency, they are not going to come and tag on the walls or on the windows”, explained, in turn, Lucie who owns a real estate agency.

However, previous demonstrations have shown that the presence of staff inside the shop does not deter thugs. A tense situation which prompted Gérald Darmanin to increase the presence of police and gendarmes during this tenth day of protest.

More than 1,000 radical elements could be present

Indeed, the Minister of the Interior announced at a press conference on Monday March 27 the mobilization of 13,000 police and gendarmes, including 5,500 in Paris, this Tuesday.

Gérald Darmanin also called “in this period of violence (…) solemnly everyone to calm” and mentioned the possible presence in Paris on Tuesday of “more than 1,000 radical elements, including some from abroad, and others (who) were present in Sainte-Soline this weekend”.

The Minister of the Interior added that these people “from the ultra-left and the far left” could also “carry out actions in Lyon, Rennes, Nantes, Dijon and Bordeaux”, cities where the demonstrations were enamelled. last Thursday of many violence.

These people “are trying to take the union processions hostage,” he lamented. “They come to break, to kill police and gendarmes (…) to destabilize the institutions and put France on fire and blood.”