Are student protests being manipulated ahead of France's presidential election?
France's prime minister has suggested that student anger is being weaponised, as the unions and other protesters prepare to take to the streets too.
Key points
- French students have blockaded high schools and protested for over three weeks.
- PM Sébastien Lecornu accused the hard left of manipulating student anger.
- Economist Anne-Laure Delatte said a 4% VAT rise could raise 120bn euros to plug debt.
Student protests have continued across France for more than three weeks, with thousands blockading high schools and taking grievances to the streets. New demonstrations were announced for Saturday, with students expected to be joined by workers' unions and figures from the gilets jaunes movement.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu suggested this week that student anger was being manipulated as politics heats up ahead of next year's presidential election. He accused members of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's France Insoumise of instrumentalising the high school movement for electoral advantage.
What protesters and mothers say
Students in Paris's 3rd district told the BBC about holes in classroom walls, swelling class sizes and a lack of teaching staff. They said the situation was far worse in disadvantaged suburbs and questioned whether changing politicians would make a difference.
Some mothers joined protests with placards reading 'Mums in solidarity.' Gwen, 37, said she did not mind her son missing school, calling it a better education in civic duty. Seventeen-year-old Lola, whose mother took part in the 1968 student movement, said there was no point waiting for the presidential election.
Anger has no political party. An empty fridge has no political party.
— Jérôme Rodrigues
Economic and political pressures
Economist Anne-Laure Delatte told the BBC that France's situation was more like the UK in 2023 under Liz Truss than Greece in 2012 or Argentina in 2001. She said a 4% increase in VAT would raise the 120bn euros needed to plug government debt, and that investors know France can raise taxes if necessary.
Senator Anne-Catherine Loisier said protesting students must feel heard and that budgets were limited but funding could be redistributed better. She called for decentralising power away from Paris. Delatte said constitutional change was needed, arguing the Fifth Republic's powerful president and blocking parliament should be replaced by a system where MPs have more power.
