Several thousand people gathered again on Friday in the Place de la Concorde in Paris after the adoption of the pension reform without a vote sparked violent protests. French President Emmanuel Macron faced the most serious challenge to his power on Friday after the so-called “yellow vest” protests, AFP and Reuters reported. On Friday, two votes of no confidence were introduced to topple the government.

A new demonstration began in Paris on Friday evening, when protesters gathered in the Place de la Concorde near the Assemblee Nationale (National Assembly) parliament building.

Protesters started a fire.

Something fundamental happened, namely that there was an immediate spontaneous mobilization across the country,” said the leader of the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The pension reform raises France’s retirement age by two years to 64, which the government says is essential to prevent the system from collapsing.

Unions and most voters disagree.

The French are deeply committed to keeping the official retirement age at 62, one of the lowest in the OECD.

More than eight in 10 people are unhappy with the government’s decision to pass the reform without a vote in parliament, and 65 percent want strikes and protests to continue, according to a Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL radio.

Continuing without a vote “is a denial of democracy … a total denial of what has been happening in the streets for several weeks,” said Nathalie Alquier, a 52-year-old psychologist from Paris. – This is simply unbearable.

A broad alliance of France’s main unions said it would continue mobilizing to try to force the reforms to be reversed. Protests took place in cities including Toulon on Friday, with more planned for the weekend. A new day of national protests is set for Thursday.

Teachers’ unions have called for strikes next week, which could disrupt key undergraduate exams.

While the protests have so far been largely peaceful, last night’s unrest was reminiscent of the “yellow vest” protests that erupted in late 2018 over high fuel prices.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said around 310 people had been arrested by police and vowed to crack down on troublemakers.

“Opposition is legal, protests are legal, but causing chaos is not,” he said on RTL radio.

Deputies from the left and centrist parliaments submitted a vote of no confidence to the parliament on Friday.

But even though Macron lost an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament in last year’s election, there was little chance that it would pass – unless an unexpected alliance of MPs from all parties, from the far left to the far…right .

Leaders of the conservative Republican Party ruled out such an alliance.

The proposals are due to be considered in the National Assembly from 16:00 (1500 GMT) on Monday, parliamentary sources told AFP.

Deputies of the parliamentary group of the independent center Liot announced the submission of a “cross-party” vote of no confidence, signed by the elected Nupes (New People’s, Environmental and Social Union).

The National Assembly, formerly the National Front (far right), also filed a no-confidence vote on Friday, accusing the “unjust and unnecessary reform”.