French president defiant in face of anti-reform protests

French President Francois Hollande stays defiant in the face of nationwide anti-reform protest rallies, pledging to go ahead with the controversial plans despite the opposition pressure on his administration.

Speaking in a radio interview on Tuesday, Hollande vowed to stick with his controversial attempts to reform the labor market.

The president, who is weighing a possible bid for re-election in May 2017, noted that he placed the need to reform over his personal fame. Hollande has some of the lowest poll ratings of any post-war French president.

“I will not give way because too many (previous) governments have backed down,” said Hollande, adding, “I prefer that people have an image of a president who made reforms rather than a president who did nothing.”

The president warned demonstrators against resorting to violence and said, “Demonstrating is a right, but smashing things up is a crime.”

Hollande also pointed out that 350 police officers had been injured and more than 1,000 people had already been arrested at the ongoing nationwide demonstrations.

He also emphasized that the reforms were necessary and measures will take time to show results. 

“It takes time for those reforms to take effect,” said Hollande, adding, “The battle is not won. It will only be won when we have, over several months, a sustained fall in unemployment," he said. "I am fighting the battle every day.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the president defended his assertion a month ago that France was “doing better.”

“When I came up with this turn of phrase, I did not mean that everything is getting better,” the president stressed, adding “But things are effectively getting better for France. It’s not a campaign slogan, it’s the reality.”

The government has promised to make the reforms more flexible. The French government says the proposed labor reforms are aimed at curbing the country’s unemployment rate, which Hollande is trying to lower to below 10 percent.

Opponents argue that the proposed reforms will worsen working conditions and increase the unemployment rate.

The comments come as France is bracing for a week of strikes in protest at the reforms. Protests are also scheduled in several cities across the country.

Anger rages on

On Tuesday, violent clashes erupted as thousands of protesters held fresh massive rallies in the French capital Paris and the western French city of Nantes in opposition to the controversial reforms.

Riot police also used tear gas to disperse the protesters and to break up the rallies. French police detained at least eight protesters after a series of violent incidents on the fringes of a march in Nantes.

French truckers also blockaded fuel and food supply depots across various parts of the European countries. Rail commuters are also preparing for major disruption with a train strike set to start later in the day.

The developments come as after France’s embattled Socialist government made use of the constitution’s Article 49-3, allowing them to bypass parliament and force through a controversial labor reform bill.

The government of Premier Valls has recently survived a no-confidence vote over the bill that has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets over the past months.

The government survived the confidence vote since it was called by opposition parties that do not have enough votes to get it through.

Protesters and workers’ unions, however, say the government wants to make it easier and less costly for employers to lay off workers.

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