Two days before a fresh wave of demonstrations, President Emmanuel Macron is chairing an emergency security council at the Élysée Palace, bringing together the prime minister, key ministers and all intelligence services. The meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m., aims to assess the "intelligence, anticipation and security arrangements" for the coming weeks and to review the "failures that led to last weekend's events", according to the presidency.
The French authorities have admitted that intelligence services largely underestimated the scale of the 17 October mobilisation against the high cost of living. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had expected around 200,000 people in the streets, but actual participation ranged from 550,000 to 800,000. Despite deploying nearly 60,000 security forces, the state failed to prevent the vandalism and looting that occurred on the fringes of the marches, images of which were broadcast worldwide.
Reinforced security for Saturday
For the new mobilisation on Saturday 24 October, the government plans to deploy additional troops from the Sentinelle force and elite police and gendarmerie units, including RAID, GIGN and the BRI. Junior interior minister Jean-Didier Berger announced on BFMTV a "20%" increase in law enforcement numbers compared with 17 October.
Several city centres remain under curfew for the third consecutive night, and new gatherings have already been banned in some areas. The security council is expected to approve these measures and to discuss the broader doctrine of public-order policing.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will receive representatives of political parties present in parliament at Matignon. In a letter to party leaders, he wrote: "Together with the interior minister, I want to talk to them about the police. We are told that the police kill or the police injure. And for the past two days we have been hearing: 'What are the police doing?' It is a very French kind of politico-media schizophrenia."
Security at presidential campaign rallies is also on the agenda, as France gears up for the 2027 election. However, several prominent candidates will be absent, signalling distrust of the executive. Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella of the National Rally, as well as former prime minister Édouard Philippe, have declined the invitation. In contrast, Green party leader Marine Tondelier, Socialist primary winner Raphaël Glucksmann, and the Republicans' president, Bruno Retailleau, have confirmed their attendance.
LFI vows to disrupt
La France insoumise (LFI) and the government have exchanged accusations since the violence, each blaming the other. The government accuses the radical left of "fanning the flames" of public anger, while LFI denounces the authorities' strategy of "letting things rot" and failing to respond politically to demands, particularly those of secondary school students.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon will be represented at Matignon by LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard. But on Tuesday, speaking to supporters, Mélenchon set a combative tone: "We're going to go, we're going to wreck your meeting!" He was responding to Lecornu's assertion that "no disagreement, no anger, no political ambition can justify resorting to violence". Mélenchon retorted: "Are you going to make us sign a certificate? Is that what you want? Do you really think we are going to do that? Of course not!"
Hours before the meeting, Bompard wrote that he would go to Matignon to ask for "apologies", "explanations" and "political answers to the mobilisation of the French people".
Mayors demand answers
The consultations will also include the mayors of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, three cities particularly affected by the violence. The Green mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, is attending "with the aim of obtaining explanations about the chain of events that led the state to fail to anticipate Saturday's events properly", his team told Euronews.
Earlier this week, the three mayors—Grégory Doucet, Emmanuel Grégoire (Paris) and Benoît Payan (Marseille)—published a joint op-ed in Libération, expressing the "feeling that whole swathes" of their cities, although "used" to popular expression, had been "left without protection". They called for the creation of an "independent commission on the public-order strategy deployed that day" and for an "exceptional national solidarity fund" to finance repairs.
The crisis has also raised concerns for the tourism sector, with French tourism bracing for fallout as international visitors reconsider their plans. Meanwhile, the government has been quick to blame foreign powers for the unrest, but evidence remains thin. President Macron has also rebuked foreign leaders for exploiting the situation.
As France prepares for another weekend of potential unrest, the political class remains deeply divided over how to respond. The government insists on maintaining order, while opposition parties and local leaders demand accountability and a more nuanced approach to public anger.
