Paris
Poulet braisé is slang frequently heard or scrawled on walls at particularly violent riots in France. The word poulet — chicken — has been used to describe Paris police since the late 19th century, when they moved to new headquarters on the site of a former poultry market close to Notre Dame Cathedral. Less quaintly, braisé is a culinary term, in this case evoking officers being slowly roasted in a manner that causes them maximum pain, if not death.
The macabre threat became a reality during this year’s May Day protests on Monday, when at least four policemen were literally set alight. I watched as Molotov cocktails rained down on a unit of riot control officers in Rue Voltaire, close to Place de la Nation, in the city’s eastern 11th arrondissement.
Their heavy uniforms and body armour were all fire-proof, but one suffered second-degree burns to his exposed face and hands and ended up in a hospital intensive care unit. Prosecutors opened an investigation into “attempted murder of a public official”, while Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused so-called Black Bloc agitators of trying “to kill a police officer”.
Such disturbing scenes were replicated across the country, on the 13th official protest day against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push the retirement age up from 62 to 64. The President bypassed a parliamentary vote to get the measure through, instead relying on a decree that opponents view as undemocratic, despite being in line with the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.
An incumbent French head of state is one of the most powerful leaders on earth and, since coming to power in 2017, Macron has not been afraid to show this off at every opportunity.
He has styled himself as a traditional “presidential monarch” — the description used by the creators of the Fifth Republic in 1958, when emergency powers were needed to deal with the crisis caused by the Algerian War of Independence.
They now allow Macron to force his will on a population that, he argues, has to work harder and rely less on the state, as it competes within an increasingly ferocious global economy. Despite opinion polls showing that at least 70% of the country is against Macron’s retirement reforms, he has pledged that there will be no U-turns, while also allowing millions to express their anger out on the street.
France is nothing if not a revolutionary republic, and the wily Macron knows this more than anybody else. Thus, mass dissent is always permitted but met with cohorts of paramilitary police — there were 5000 in Paris alone on Monday — along with water cannon, masses of teargas, baton charges, and stun grenades. When things get out of hand, and shocking pictures of a France seemingly descending into anarchy are broadcast around the world, Macron stands back from the fray and leaves his ministers to react.
Politicising the increased brutality is an obvious tactic and so, naturally, Darmanin blamed opposition politicians for the disorder. Commenting on the 460 police and gendarmes injured on May Day, and the 540 demonstrators arrested nationwide, the Interior Minister linked them all with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, founder of the Left-wing NUPES (New Ecological and Social People’s Union) coalition in the Paris parliament. “Faced with this violence, the deafening silence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon makes him an accomplice,” Darmanin said.
So it is that the Macron administration speaks in the language of war — accusing those who oppose them of being collaborators and pledging that its own well-equipped combatants will prevail. The use of poulet braisé is an ugly consequence of the endless conflict, but dramatic attacks on the forces of law and order fit perfectly into the Macron playbook. Watching on, he will feel like he is winning.
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SubscribeSo French police were set alight on Monday?
Didn’t hear a peep from the MSM. Thanks for the reportage, Unherd.
I was at the protest in Lyon – plenty of teargas being fired at peacefully advancing crowds moving beyond the designated march area and yet none fired at say the tiny violent minority started smashing up an organic supermarket. Was hard to discern what the policing strategy was.
I was at the protest in Lyon – plenty of teargas being fired at peacefully advancing crowds moving beyond the designated march area and yet none fired at say the tiny violent minority started smashing up an organic supermarket. Was hard to discern what the policing strategy was.
So French police were set alight on Monday?
Didn’t hear a peep from the MSM. Thanks for the reportage, Unherd.
A decree can be both undemocratic and yet constitutional. Macron was unable to get the French parliament to pass his proposed pension bill (one that I believe is necessary).
Per the article, 70% of French men and women oppose the bill – that’s the voice of the people (also known as democracy). So Marcron’s decree is undemocratic. Putting this change on the law books without significant public support will have huge unfortunate consequences. The French public will rightly think they’ve been railroaded. Not good for democracy, not good for France. C’est demage!
The reform is only necessary because France made the terminal error of sharing a currency with people who don’t stop working at 50.
The reform is only necessary because France made the terminal error of sharing a currency with people who don’t stop working at 50.
A decree can be both undemocratic and yet constitutional. Macron was unable to get the French parliament to pass his proposed pension bill (one that I believe is necessary).
Per the article, 70% of French men and women oppose the bill – that’s the voice of the people (also known as democracy). So Marcron’s decree is undemocratic. Putting this change on the law books without significant public support will have huge unfortunate consequences. The French public will rightly think they’ve been railroaded. Not good for democracy, not good for France. C’est demage!
So little coverage of any of this by the BBC et al. Wonder why?
In cahoots with Sunak’s friend Macron no doubt, being the ‘centrists’ they are, unwilling to give voice to those who want transformative change
In cahoots with Sunak’s friend Macron no doubt, being the ‘centrists’ they are, unwilling to give voice to those who want transformative change
So little coverage of any of this by the BBC et al. Wonder why?
Macron has been elected by a coalition of retirees and “people doing well under the current regime”. He governs for his coalition, and yes this includes a pension reform.
There is an obvious lack of political will to punish black block rioters, and a strong will to use tear gas and batons against workers peacefully protesting a drop in their living standards.
Macron has been elected by a coalition of retirees and “people doing well under the current regime”. He governs for his coalition, and yes this includes a pension reform.
There is an obvious lack of political will to punish black block rioters, and a strong will to use tear gas and batons against workers peacefully protesting a drop in their living standards.
I used to think that Macron was feeble …………
Rather like Zelenskyy?
Rather like Zelenskyy?
I used to think that Macron was feeble …………
So 70% of the country is against Macron’s retirement reforms.
Is that the same 70% that voted him into power on a programme that included retirement reforms?
You know as well as I do that even if it was 70% of people who voted him in, many were doing so while holding their noses because they knew it was the only alternative to le Pen.
You know as well as I do that even if it was 70% of people who voted him in, many were doing so while holding their noses because they knew it was the only alternative to le Pen.
So 70% of the country is against Macron’s retirement reforms.
Is that the same 70% that voted him into power on a programme that included retirement reforms?