Police have confiscated saucepans from townspeople demonstrating against French President Emmanuel Macron.
Numerous anti-Macron protesters may have difficulty making dinner later today after French police reportedly confiscated saucepans in the town of Ganges ahead of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Hated by wide swathes of the French population thanks to his pension reforms, Macron is currently touring the country in the hopes of regaining the support of the general public.
The tour has so far not gone as planned, perhaps, with protesters having disrupted his previous stops in other locations by making lots of noise, often int he traditional method with banging pots and pans.
Now, according to a report by POLITICO, police in Ganges are trying to preempt such protests, confiscating saucepans from would-be protesters in the town.
The confiscations have been justified by police as the confiscation of “portable sound devices”, with such devices being banned from being temporarily banned from public use by local authorities shortly before Macron’s arrival.
Upon arriving at the location, Macron himself made light of the confiscations, saying that he was willing to meet with protesters if they were willing to talk, but would not bother if they were just going to try and disrupt his time in the town.
“If it’s just for the eggs and the pans — at my place, these are used to cook,” he quipped.
Such pithy remarks — though a common element of Macron’s repertoire — does not quite convey the seriousness of the situation the French President has found himself in, with much of the French public still furious at him over his passed pension reforms.
While resistance to the measures has slowed slightly in recent weeks, there remains enough anger amongst the French public for regular protests to occur, sometimes with attendances in the hundreds of thousands.
Although no such numbers were reached in the town of Ganges, the roughly 1,000 individuals who did show up to challenge the President’s visit did appear to make themselves heard in a manner common for French protesters, clashing with police before reportedly getting tear gassed.
The fact that many ultimately had to go without their pans did not prevent them from making a lot of noise either, with many opting to use whistles and vuvuzelas instead.
Members of the country’s political opposition also were keen to lash out at the president, finding the police decision to start confiscating saucepans in the hopes of ensuring a smooth visit for Macron seemingly hitting a nerve with many.
“Is it possible to get out of a democratic crisis by banning saucepans,” one Green Party politician asked, while an elected member of the French Communist Party said his party was now “impatiently awaiting the bill which will prohibit the sale of saucepans”.