Rioters have taken to the streets of Paris to protest the retirement age being raised from 62 to 64 under controversial powers.
President Emmanuel Macron asked prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, to use a special constitutional power to bypass parliament and put the unpopular bill through without a vote.
The vote was scheduled to occur just minutes later in the National Assembly, causing disruptions in parliament.
In response, thousands of people have stormed various areas of the city, fighting police officers, wreaking damage and starting fires. Polls have shown that more than 70% of the public are opposed to the bill.
The epicentre of the riots was at the Place de la Concorde, located across the River Seine from the National Assembly and near President Emmanuel Macron’s Elysee home.
A police spokesman confirmed that there was no intrusion at the residence.
However, rioters stormed the square, partaking in a surprise rally and lighting a massive bonfire.
Officers responded by firing tear gas rounds into the crowds, forcing protesters to run down side streets. 217 people have since been arrested.
An eyewitness stated: “A group of rioters got away from the police and started marching towards the Elysee Palace.
“They wanted to get to Macron, to tell him what they think of his new measures.”
While Paris bore the brunt of the protests, cities across France, including Rennes and Nantes in the east to Lyon and the southern port city of Marseille, have been witness to similar scenes.
Shop windows and bank fronts have been smashed, with radical leftist groups blamed for at least some of the destruction.
Footage has shown blazing fires raging throughout the streets, with vehicles left parked along the sides of roads now engulfed in flames.
Police officers have been filmed surging into the crowds, holding shields and batons aloft, as protesters were spotted fighting against the force with their bare hands.
Piles of rubbish and wreckage have littered the roads, while rioters were seen throwing litter and debris into the air and towards officers in the crowds.
The protests carried on way into the evening, as thick smoke engulfed the capital.
Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age has come as no surprise to French workers, with strikes and demonstrations taking place across the country over the past months.
Municipality workers have been threatened with imprisonment, with Parisian binmen ordered to clean up rubbish from the streets or face jail.
Unions have been organising strikes and marches since January, stating that “This retirement reform is brutal, unjust, unjustified for the world of workers.”
There are further demonstrations to come over the next weeks, with French news channel, BFMTV reporting: “The [unions] plans a new big day of mobilization on March 23, and the opposition to the National Assembly will undoubtedly file a motion of censure this Friday.”
