Reactions Pour In After Macron's Address: Bardella Calls It "Deplorable and Cowardly"; Yellow Vest Groups Vow a Wider Strike

Paris — Reactions poured in on Sunday night and into Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron addressed the nation over the rioting that swept France. According to Reuters, Al Jazeera and other outlets, Macron said in the televised address that "tonight, we all feel anger and shame" at the images of the unrest, insisting that "nothing justifies it, nothing explains it, nothing excuses it," and that peaceful protesters with legitimate demands must be distinguished from those who looted and destroyed. He stopped short of declaring a state of emergency or a curfew, but said prefects, working with mayors, could ban specific gatherings where necessary to protect public buildings and businesses. He also ordered a review of whether intelligence gathering or advance police preparation had failed as the protests turned violent, and directed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to convene political parties, unions, student groups and local authorities in the coming days. Macron pledged a "crisis unit" to provide urgent aid to struggling businesses, and Economy Minister Roland Lescure vowed government support for damaged shop owners, saying "those who break things will pay."

On the latest official toll, the Interior Ministry said nearly 2,400 people were arrested on Saturday and 997 police officers and gendarmes were injured, seven of them seriously, while one protester died of cardiac arrest during demonstrations in Paris.

Among opposition figures, Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally, called Macron's speech "lamentable" and "cowardly," saying the government "has nothing left to offer the French people and cannot even protect them." National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said in a video message: "Violence is not an opinion, and destruction is not a form of expression. Chaos cannot be a plan for France's future." She also described the administration as "running on fumes, exhausted and disoriented." Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing France Unbowed, said the government was "solely responsible" for the destruction and had "failed to organise the maintenance of public order," urged Macron to respond to citizens' demands, and warned the country could be heading toward uncontrollable developments. Bruno Retailleau, leader of the conservative Republicans, renewed his call for a state of emergency.

From unions and protest groups, Sophie Vénétitay, general secretary of the SNES-FSU secondary teachers' union, said the address contained absolutely nothing concrete on education, the issue at the origin of the protests. According to Le Monde, a coalition of "yellow vest" movement groups that had called for participation in the October 17 protests called the speech hollow and said it showed how far leaders are removed from the realities of ordinary people; the groups demanded a face-to-face meeting with the president, said they would form a delegation representing the participating organizations if the request were accepted, and said they would continue collective action, including blocking freight transport, and expand a cross-sector strike planned for November 5 into a general strike and a full shutdown.

At the local level, the mayors of Paris, Lyon and Marseille have requested a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days, citing the scale of the destruction. Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler said the speech had "perhaps no surprises," and that people who have been out protesting "are fed up of hearing these sorts of speeches by the French president." (GSM, from Reuters and Al Jazeera reports)

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 巴黎「黄背心」抗议人群资料图（2019年3月摄，非本次骚乱现场）。图：Thomon，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0（经 Commons API 实查）。File photo of Yellow Vest protesters in Paris (March 2019; not the current unrest). Photo: Thomon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (verified via Commons API).

Latest in World News

Dakar Youth Olympic Games Open: First Olympic Event in Africa Draws Some 2,700 Young Athletes2026-10-31Magnitude 6.0 Deep Earthquake Strikes Off Shima, Japan: 352 km Deep, No Tsunami Threat2026-10-31