Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said Friday that 310 persons were arrested during protests and riots on Thursday evening following the Government's decision to adopt its pension reform without calling a vote in Parliament.

Paris.- According to the officer, 258 arrests occurred in Paris, where police used tear gas and water cannon to drive away protesters who gathered at the ·Place de la Concorde”, near the National Assembly, in which Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invoked article 49.3 of the French Constitution.

With the triggering of that mechanism, the Executive avoided the final vote on its controversial initiative in the Assembly, to which unions, political parties, and citizens rejected raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old.

The opposition is legitimate; the protests are legitimate, but wreaking havoc is not, Darmanin told RTL radio, referring to protests in Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, and Rennes.

Burning garbage containers, smashing windows and car windows, and clashes with the police were some of the violent actions citizens experienced during those mobilizations, not approved by the authorities. (PL)