France‘s former First Lady Carla Bruni has ridiculed Paris’s mayor by posing with huge pile of rubbish as protests over pension reforms continue.
The latest round of protests against a bill adopted by France’s parliament, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, have been running since Thursday, and have led to hundreds of arrests across the country.
Paris police said on Tuesday that 234 people were arrested overnight in the capital, mostly for setting fire to rubbish in the streets. A strike by Paris rubbish collectors has begun its 16th day today.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday to her 772 thousand followers, which contained several floral emojis, singer and fashion model Bruni, 55, wrote: ‘Printemps!!! Ecco la primavera! Here’s the spring ! Merci @annehidalgo’.
Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor referenced in the post, has said she is fully behind the strikers, and refuses to help the police.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday to her 772 thousand followers, which contained several floral emojis, singer and fashion model Bruni, 55, wrote: ‘Printemps!!! Ecco la primavera! Here’s the spring ! Merci @annehidalgo’
Garbage cans overflowing with trash on the streets as collectors go on strike in Paris, France on March 20, 2023
Bruni, the wife of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been known to make political statements on her social media accounts in the past.
In April 2021, she attacked the woke culture sweeping through France in a lengthy Instagram post.
She wrote: ‘Little by little and without warning, do-gooders and censorship have taken over.
‘Obsessed by their image of upholders of morality, a whole load of people without culture, without experience and without courage are trying to impose their narrow-minded ideas on us.’
As the protests over the pension reforms rumble on, some of Paris’ fabled narrow streets are even more choked than usual, forcing people on foot to pass through garbage heaps single file.
French CRS riot police secure the area near garbage cans on fire during a demonstration to protest the use by French government of the article 49.3, a special clause in the French Constitution, to push the pensions reform bill through the National Assembly without a vote by lawmakers, in Paris on March 18, 2023
A man walks past a fire made of matresses and waste containers amid a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023
A pedestrian walks past full waste bins in Paris’ 2nd district as rubbish collectors strike against pension reforms, leaving many streets in the capital piled with stinking waste on March 17, 2023
In some of central Paris’ most prestigious avenues, firefighters scrambled to put out burning rubbish piles left uncollected for days due to strikes as protesters skirmished with police for a fifth night.
City Hall said that as of Monday, 9,300 tonnes of rubbish remained on the streets, down from 10,000 days ago.
Macron rammed the showcase legislation of his second term through Parliament last week – without a vote, thanks to a special constitutional article.
On Monday, the government won two no-confidence motions put forth by angry lawmakers. The bill is now considered adopted.
People carry an object next to a fire during clashes at a demonstration to protest the use by French government of the article 49.3, a special clause in the French Constitution, to push the pensions reform bill through the National Assembly without a vote by lawmakers, in Nantes, France, on March 18, 2023
A barricade burns as protesters block the traffic on Paris’ peripheral boulevard in the morning hours to distribute flyers against the French government’s pension reform
Illustration and view of the garbage overflowing in the streets of Paris due to the strike from the garbage collector related to the pension reform by the French government on March 18, 2023
Rubbish bags and bins have served as fuel for troublemakers, who combed Paris Monday night setting fires, as they’ve done after recent protests. At least 100 people were detained.
‘Garbage is a good way to protest. It has a big impact,’ said Tony Gibierge, 36, who is opening a restaurant in several months on a street in southern Paris – a street currently heaped with litter.
Paris police authorities said in a statement on Tuesday that they ordered garbage employees to work in order to ensure a ‘minimum service.’ It said that 674 staff have been covered by the orders, allowing 206 garbage trucks to operate since last week.
Macron has planned a series of political meetings on Tuesday with the prime minister, parliament leaders and lawmakers from his centrist alliance.
Pedestrians react as they walk past a fire made of household waste containers during a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023
A man walks past a fire made of matresses and waste containers amid a demonstration in Bordeaux, southwestern France, on March 18, 2023
The French president, who made the pension plan a centerpiece of his second term, is to speak Wednesday on national television, a first since he made the decision last week to use a government’s special constitutional power to force the bill through parliament. The move prompted two no-confidence motions against the government in the lower chamber of parliament that were both rejected Monday.
Macron’s office announced that the president would break his silence on Wednesday and give a live television interview to the TF1 and France broadcasters at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT).
Another round of strikes and protests organised by trade unions have been called on Thursday and are expected to again bring public transport to a standstill.
