By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen warned Wednesday, Oct. 21, that the French government was losing its ability to maintain public order following widespread riots that erupted during demonstrations over the cost of living, accusing President Emmanuel Macron’s administration of failing to anticipate or prevent escalating violence.
Speaking to broadcaster Franceinfo, Le Pen, the National Rally candidate in the April 2027 presidential election, described the unrest as evidence of a broader crisis involving immigration, public security and government finances.
“The government has lost control of everything. It’s chaos. It’s migratory chaos, it’s security chaos, budgetary chaos,” Le Pen said.
The remarks followed Saturday’s demonstrations, which deteriorated into widespread rioting, looting and clashes with police in Paris and several other French cities. Authorities reported approximately 2,000 arrests and injuries to hundreds of police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel.
According to Le Monde’s coverage of her Franceinfo interview, Le Pen accused the administration of failing to recognize a predictable pattern of escalating violence during recent demonstrations.
“I have the feeling that we are facing a state that is collapsing, we are facing a dying power, a waning administration that has lost its grip, can no longer maintain control, fails to anticipate events, and is, in part, mired in ideological denial,” she said.
Le Pen argued that the government should have anticipated the violence based on previous demonstrations involving organized extremist groups and individuals responsible for looting.
“What happened on Saturday was predictable in the sense that for years and years we have seen these developments unfold at almost every protest that is organised,” she said.
She specifically accused far-left militants and individuals from suburban communities of exploiting demonstrations to engage in violence.
The French government has acknowledged serious failures in its response to Saturday’s unrest. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez admitted that police temporarily lost control in certain cities, while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu acknowledged that the administration had mishandled aspects of the crisis.
The violence included attacks on government buildings, businesses and police facilities. In Limoges, a fire destroyed the city hall, prompting an investigation involving specialized counterterrorism prosecutors.
Officials have also examined whether organized extremist groups coordinated attacks on public institutions and commercial properties.
Le Pen maintained that existing French laws would be sufficient to restore order if authorities enforced them more firmly.
“I am the one who would give the orders that were not given to the police. I am the one who will mobilise,” she said.
She defended police officers facing criticism over their response, arguing that responsibility belonged primarily to political leaders who failed to provide clear instructions and adequate support.
The government has since introduced localized nighttime curfews, restrictions on public gatherings and expanded police deployments in several cities.
Helicopters equipped with powerful searchlights have also been deployed over Paris as authorities attempt to prevent additional violence.
Le Pen questioned the effectiveness of those measures, particularly restrictions affecting entire communities rather than individuals suspected of organizing riots.
“I am not at all sure the helicopter in the skies over Paris has any effectiveness whatsoever,” she said.
Instead, she proposed using intelligence records to identify known extremist activists and prevent foreign militants from entering France to participate in violent demonstrations.
Le Pen specifically referenced “foreign black-bloc rioters, those who come from Germany, the Netherlands, or Italy,” arguing that French authorities already maintain detailed information about individuals associated with extremist networks.
She said using those records to restrict their movements before major demonstrations could help prevent what she described as “quasi-insurrectional protests.”
Her comments come as the government considers legislation designed to increase financial accountability for rioters responsible for property destruction.
The proposed measure, commonly called the casseurs-payeurs law, would expand mechanisms for recovering damages from individuals convicted of violent offenses during demonstrations.
Le Pen has expressed support for holding perpetrators financially responsible while criticizing broader security restrictions that affect people uninvolved in the unrest.
She also accused political organizations associated with far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon of contributing to an environment in which radical groups receive financial support.
“There is an ecosystem of associations that are subsidised, financed, by the money of French taxpayers who so struggle to pay their taxes,” Le Pen said.
“This is a myriad of politicised far-left associations,” she continued, arguing that public funding should be restricted to organizations operating independently of political parties.
“I think public subsidies, whether municipal, departmental, regional or national must not go to politicised associations. Only apolitical associations should be able to receive state subsidies, subsidies from the French people who themselves are extremely diverse in their political opinions, we must stop the subsidising of political associations.”
Mélenchon and his allies have supported the broader demonstrations over wages, living costs and public services while condemning violence. Le Pen’s allegations concerning politically connected organizations have not established that the groups she criticized were responsible for specific criminal acts.
The confrontation comes during the final months of Macron’s presidency, with France experiencing significant political instability and growing public frustration over economic conditions.
A Reuters report published Oct. 19 described the unrest as placing additional pressure on Macron’s administration amid stagnant economic growth, strained public finances and divisions in Parliament.
Le Pen has increasingly presented public security and immigration enforcement as central issues in her presidential campaign, arguing that the government has failed to protect ordinary citizens.
Her position was reinforced in an Oct. 18 public statement describing the violence as evidence of a crisis of confidence and authority.
However, her proposals remain contested by political opponents who argue that broader security restrictions and expanded enforcement powers could threaten civil liberties.
The unrest has intensified debate over how France should respond to violent demonstrations while preserving the right to peaceful protest.
With the presidential election approximately six months away, Le Pen urged voters to consider whether the next government should maintain existing policies or pursue a substantially different approach to public order.
“In six months the French people will have an extremely important choice to make,” she said. “Do we continue this unending degradation or do we take back control and protect the French people.”
France’s presidential election is scheduled to begin April 18, 2027, with a runoff on May 2 if no candidate secures an outright majority in the first round.
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