Thursday 18/Sep/2025 – 06:46 AM
Today, Thursday, France is preparing for a wave of widespread protests described as the largest in years, while the country faces political crises, amid a government deficit and a continuous political void, after the government resigned and its President Francois Bayro failed to pass a controversial austerity budget for 2026.
More than a million people participate in the movement, according to preliminary estimates, in response to the invitation of seven of the major French unions, in rejecting the economic and social policies adopted by the government, and to denounce the deterioration of the standard of living and the escalation of popular anxiety rates from public debt that amounted to 3400 billion euros, equivalent to 114% of the GDP.
This movement coincides with an unprecedented political predicament, as the country is still without an actual government, in light of the stumbling of the efforts of former Defense Minister Sebastian Lucurno to form a new government that has the confidence of Parliament, at a time when votes rise within the radical left and the extreme right to demand the dissolution of Parliament or even the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron, whose popularity declined to only 17%, according to a poll conducted by the Epsos Institute.
The labor force unions and the General Confederation of Labor and others announced that today’s move will be historical, and express the accumulation of popular anger from different groups, starting with workers and teachers, through doctors and pharmacists, and to reach the employees of the public and private sectors.
More than 250 demonstrations
According to the security authorities, more than 250 demonstrations were reported and gathered in various parts of France, most notably in Paris, where the major march will start from the Labastel Square, and 80,000 police, gendarmerie and security forces have been mobilized, in anticipation of any riots that might regain the scenes of the yellow jackets that have previously shook the country.
