Paris: More than one million demonstrators poured onto France's streets, and strikers shut down the Eiffel Tower and disrupted transport services in the largest nationwide protests so far against a new law that will make it easier to fire young people.
Police said 46 demonstrators and nine police officers were injured in clashes following Tuesday's march in Paris.
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin held firm, but cracks opened in his conservative government as pressure for him to withdraw the contested measure reached unprecedented heights, with unions, students and the leftist Opposition joined in solidarity, and more violence erupting on the streets of Paris.
Interior Minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, in a clear break with Villepin, suggested suspending the new type of job contract for youths to allow for negotiations. With the government in crisis, President Jacques Chirac canceled a trip planned for later in the week to stay in Paris.
Police and organisers' estimates for the number of marchers varied greatly, but both showed the protest movement growing in strength.
Police estimated 1.05 million people took part in more than 250 protests nationwide, including 92,000 in Paris. The organisers' total was closer to three million, with 700,000 at the march from the Left Bank to the heavily policed Place de Republique.
Comments
0 comment