The areas around Place de la République and Les Halles in central Paris will be under curfew from late Monday night until Tuesday morning, several French media outlets reported. Crowds gathered at the locations during the evening, and authorities fear further violence. Protests at the locations have also been temporarily banned.
Nighttime curfews for Monday and Tuesday have already been announced for minors in the northern French city of Lille and the nearby towns of Douai, Wattignies and Denain. In addition, according to the BFMTV television channel, central Nice and a suburb of Le Mans will impose similar bans late Monday.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu asked prefects in the country's departments on Monday to impose limited curfews in cities hit by unrest. The first curfews are being imposed in the four towns in the north.
Blocked the Louvre
The Élysée Palace announced during the day that a resignation request from Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had been rejected. The reason given was that sustained leadership was needed in the current situation.
Protests have continued to some extent, with protesters camping around the Louvre and preventing the museum from opening on Monday. In Marseille, daytime gatherings have been banned.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Saturday, protesting the high cost of living, underfunded schools and the current government. In many places, protests degenerated into violent clashes, widespread vandalism and the looting of shops.
Thousands of people were detained by security forces, who in turn are accused of widespread violence.
Accusing each other
Politicians are trading accusations over the violence.
“Thank you, Mélenchon,” President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party wrote ironically on social media. The outspoken left-wing leader and presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon is accused of inciting the violence. During the protests in recent weeks, he has clearly sided with the demonstrators.
Mélenchon's left-wing LFI party blames the government's inadequate crisis management. Opposition leaders on both sides of Emmanuel Macron's centrist government accuse the president of giving a televised speech without actually saying or promising anything.
The Yellow Vests protest movement has announced new protests for the coming weekend.
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