In a televised address to the nation on Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed "anger and shame" at what he described as efforts by violent protesters to "overthrow the republic," and pledged that those responsible for rioting and looting would "pay for their crimes."
The remarks came after Saturday saw one of the most serious outbreaks of urban violence in France in years. According to the Interior Ministry, nearly 2,400 people were arrested on Saturday, while around 1,000 police officers and gendarmes were injured.
Macron said a clear distinction must be drawn between protesters with "legitimate demands" and "those who vandalized, smashed and looted." The French leader said he would set up a "crisis unit" to provide "emergency support to those going through a difficult period," and said "lessons will be learned" from the violence that swept the country over the weekend.
"We need to be clear: yesterday, our law enforcement forces and officials, despite their professionalism, came under unprecedented violence in many cities," Macron said. "I have asked the government to draw all the lessons and to be able to anticipate situations so that this does not happen again. We need unity, we need calm and mutual respect."
According to Al Jazeera correspondent Natacha Butler in Paris, Macron's speech "was perhaps unsurprising." "Whether it will be enough to reassure some people, I'm not sure, because those who have taken to the streets say they are tired of hearing this kind of speech from the French president," Butler said.
The protests are fast becoming a political football for parties competing for public support ahead of next year's presidential election. Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon argued that the French government bears "full responsibility" for the damage caused during the protests and had "failed to organize the maintenance of public order."
Meanwhile, far-right presidential candidate Jordan Bardella called Macron's Sunday address "pathetic" and "cowardly," saying the government had nothing left to offer the French people and "cannot even protect them."
