Following the success of national-oriented parties in snap elections, mass disorder erupted in France, threatening to disrupt preparations for the 2024 Olympics.
Less than a month is left before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris. Meanwhile, Parisians are expressing dissatisfaction with the huge sums that the authorities have spent on cleansing the river. According to French media, the country allocated about a billion dollars for the cleaning measures.
Residents are voicing concern about the strain on transport, which will begin next month. They are also anxious about security threats and the fact that President Emmanuel Macron held a snap election in which his party showed disappointing results.
The Rassemblement Nationale is in first place with 33 per cent of the vote in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections, according to preliminary estimates of voting results. Meanwhile, the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came second with 28 per cent, while president’s centrist coalition Together won only 20 per cent, the interior ministry reported.
A second round of early elections is scheduled for 7 July, but the French are already demonstrating unrest. Left-wing activists are staging riots, burning markets, and building barricades. This may discourage those wishing to attend the Olympics starting this month.
For example, supporters of the defeated left-wing party organised riots in Paris. Dissatisfied with the election results, they, succumbing to the public sentiment, set fire to a market in the suburbs of Paris.
Other protests
Meanwhile, protesters in Lyon are erecting barricades, with police gathering to the site of the protests. In Angers, demonstrators went further and blocked traffic. Local café and shop owners have reportedly begun boarding up doors and windows to prevent protesters from looting.
One of the videos showed alleged migrants flooding French streets, scattering rubbish and obstructing traffic.
Mass unrest in various French cities poses a threat to public safety at a time when authorities are struggling to present an image of a hospitable country where everything is ready for a major international event.
