The key facts
- The Yellow Vests intend to hold a sit-in on the Place de la Concorde from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time despite the authorities' ban
- About 120 actions across France have been announced for November 7; the authorities have mobilized 70,000 police officers and gendarmes
- Two days earlier, on November 5, according to the Interior Ministry, 575,000 people joined the protests, while the CGT union estimated the number at almost 1.6 million
Ban on the rally and a call to disobedience
The French Yellow Vest movement has called on its supporters to mass civil disobedience after the Paris prefecture banned an assembly in the center of the capital. This was reported by AFP citing activists. The action is scheduled for November 7 on the Place de la Concorde, not far from the National Assembly and the Élysée Palace. One of the movement's coordinators, Benjamin Ball, said participants intend to remain on the square from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time (from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Moscow time), and instead of a traditional march, a sit-in directly on the ground is proposed. «We are calling for mass disobedience,» the movement's representative said.
Why the authorities and protesters failed to reach agreement
The conflict was triggered by the prefecture's ban on holding an assembly near the main government institutions. The authorities offered activists to join a trade union demonstration agreed with them, whose route runs from the Place de la République to the Place de la Nation, but the Yellow Vest movement refused, stressing that its political demands differ from the unions' agenda. The movement's lawyer, David Libeskind, explained the choice of the Place de la Concorde by its proximity to the centers of state power and added that the protesters are seeking not only solutions to social problems but also broader direct participation of citizens in governing the country. He also reported filing a criminal complaint against the actions of Paris police prefect Patrice Faure.
The scale of the action and the context of the protest wave
For November 7, the movement's supporters announced about 120 actions across France. In parallel, trade unions, students and youth organizations opposing the rising cost of living and demanding higher incomes are planning to take to the streets. To maintain order, the authorities have mobilized 70,000 police officers and gendarmes. The new action comes just two days after a large-scale nationwide strike: according to the French Interior Ministry, 575,000 people took part in demonstrations on November 5, while the CGT union put the number at almost 1.6 million — the discrepancy in estimates persists. As Life.ru previously reported, mass protests have swept more than 200 French cities.
Background: «Act III» and the detentions of October 31
The movement, which rose to prominence in 2018 during protests against higher fuel taxes, is once again actively taking part in street actions. Life.ru previously wrote about preparations for «Act III» of the protest movement: as early as October 25, activists announced new protests scheduled for October 31 and demanded an investigation into alleged cases of police violence. According to Life.ru, during the actions on October 31, French law enforcement detained 565 people, and the protests were accompanied by unrest in several major cities of the country.
