France bans Thursday protests in four cities as Macron blames 'seditious' ultra-left for weekend riots

French authorities have barred Thursday’s planned demonstrations in parts of Paris, Lyon, Lille and Grenoble, as President Emmanuel Macron blamed last weekend’s riots on what he called “seditious acts” by “ultra-left” groups he accused of trying to “bring down the Republic”, Al Jazeera reports.

The Paris Police Prefecture banned Thursday’s protests in key parts of the capital until 8pm (18:00 GMT) — including areas near the Elysee Palace, both houses of parliament, the city’s main train stations, and parts of downtown where looting occurred over the weekend. A police source told AFP the ban was necessary because of organisers’ “inability to prevent violence and vandalism”, according to Al Jazeera.

Speaking from the Elysee Palace on Thursday, Macron said France would ban all “illegitimate” protests in the coming days, while approved demonstrations led by organised groups such as unions would be required to take alternative routes outside city centres to protect businesses. He added that he would convene the country’s defence council on Friday to take further action. Earlier on Thursday morning, Macron met intelligence services, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and ministers to review what went wrong over the weekend and preparations for upcoming protests.

Lecornu, who met union representatives on Wednesday, said a “massive” security operation was planned for Saturday to prevent a repeat of the violence. Union representatives said the talks produced no concrete proposals and that they were now focusing on another day of action scheduled for 5 November.

The restrictions follow a Saturday protest that drew more than half a million people across France and ended with at least 2,500 arrests after riots broke out, with shops looted. Thursday’s protests were seen as a prelude to a larger demonstration on Saturday, when “yellow vest” activists are expected to join; some Saturday marches, including in Lyon, will also be banned. The unrest first erupted last month in a high school in Creteil over staff shortages and has since morphed into broader protests over soaring living costs.