Protesters clash with the Police at Paris demonstration against pension overhaul
Riot police clashed with protesters on Friday evening in Paris as a new demonstration occurred against the government's plans to raise the French state pension age.
The growing unrest, which has resulted in a wave of strikes since the start of the year and rubbish piling up on the streets of Paris, has left President Emmanuel Macron with the gravest challenge to his authority since the so-called 'Gilets Jaunes' or 'Yellow Vest' protests of December 2018.
Reuters TV broadcast images of tear gas used by police to deal with crowd disorder as protesters gathered in Paris' Place de la Concorde, near the Assemblee Nationale parliament building.
"Macron, Resign!" chanted some demonstrators, as they squared up to a line of riot police.
Friday's night trouble followed similar disorder on Thursday, after Macron decided to push through the contested pension overhaul without a parliamentary vote.
The overhaul raises France's state pension age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to ensure the system does not go bust.
Unions, and most voters, disagree.
The French are deeply attached to keeping the official retirement age at 62, which is among the lowest in OECD countries.
More than eight out of 10 people are unhappy with the government's decision to skip a vote in parliament, and 65% want strikes and protests to continue, a Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL radio showed.
Going ahead without a vote "is a denial of democracy ... a total denial of what has been happening in the streets for several weeks", 52-year-old psychologist Nathalie Alquier said in Paris. "It's just unbearable."
A broad alliance of France's main unions said they would continue their mobilisation to try and force a U-turn on the changes. Protests are planned for this weekend, with a new day of nationwide industrial action scheduled for Thursday.
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