DA Editorial Desk | Sara Debbarma
France spent the weekend counting the damage from its worst unrest in years. On 17 October, about 550,000 people marched across the country, according to the interior ministry, with the CGT union claiming 800,000. In Lyon a tourist office was set ablaze, town halls were broken into in Marseille and Lille, and shops were looted in several cities. Police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon. The interior ministry reported about 400 arrests, while later headlines from CNN and NPR cited about 1,800 detained, a figure we could not confirm.
Violence of this kind cannot be excused. Arson, looting and attacks on public buildings harm ordinary people, small traders and public services, and President Emmanuel Macron was right to say that those responsible will be prosecuted. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has blamed ultra-left groups and delinquents who joined in to loot. Prosecutors should establish who did what, and punish individuals rather than a movement.
But a government that answers only with arrests will miss the point. The protests began in mid-September at a high school in Creteil with complaints about crumbling buildings, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages. They have grown into a broader protest over living costs and failing public services, drawing nurses, firefighters, teachers, parents and former “yellow vest” activists. That is not a fringe. Whatever the instigators wanted, most of the half-million marchers were demanding schools that work and wages that keep pace with prices.
The state must also look at its own conduct. A protester in Saint-Etienne reportedly lost a hand to a police grenade, and a 15-year-old lost a hand earlier this month in Lens. These cases require independent investigation. Public trust in policing cannot be asked of citizens if injuries inflicted by the state are not examined.
France’s finances are constrained, with borrowing costs at their highest in more than 20 years, and Mr Lecornu says public money cannot keep covering damage. That is true, and it makes a credible plan all the more necessary. The government should publish a timetable for school repairs and teacher recruitment, open talks with unions, and show that it can protect both order and dignity. Next year’s elections could bring the far-right National Rally to power. That is a danger worth taking seriously, and the best defence is a state that listens.