France’s Macron declines minister’s resignation after violent protests

French President Emmanuel Macron refuses Interior Minister Laurent Nunez's resignation after violent protests.

The full report

French President Emmanuel Macron has refused the resignation of his Interior Minister, Laurent Nunez, following violent protests across the country. The protests, which took place on Saturday, were sparked by rising costs and social inequality, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand change.

According to the Elysee Palace, Macron has instructed Nunez to take all necessary steps to ensure transparency over the failures in planning and intelligence that led to the violence. Nunez has also been asked to put in place new operational methods for security forces to handle the crisis and deal with violent looters.

The protests turned violent, with nearly 2,400 people arrested and almost 1,000 police and gendarmes injured. In some of the worst urban violence France has seen in years, crowds of mostly masked and male youths clashed with police, looting shops and torching public and private property.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez acknowledged that police 'lost control' during the protests, saying that their numbers were insufficient to deal with the large crowds of rioters and looters on the fringes of the demonstrations. He estimated that 60,000 law enforcement personnel were deployed across the country that day.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has called for some local municipalities to impose 'very limited' and 'localized' curfews in cities around the country to curb further unrest. Authorities in the southern city of Marseille have also announced a ban on all gatherings and demonstrations from noon to 8 pm.