French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu told France’s parliament that “far-left” and “ultra-left” groups had forged an “insurrectionary plan” against the government, speaking shortly after he was briefed by French intelligence services.
Monday night was comparatively calm compared to the pandemonium that engulfed Paris and other major cities over the weekend, when rioters battled police across the country. But the government has begun to solidify its response and prepare for further rounds of unrest, both in its security measures and in its public rhetoric.
On Monday and Tuesday, Lecornu began detailing the role that left-wing groups played in the unrest, telling parliament on Tuesday that the unrest stemmed from an “insurrectionary plan” from left-wing groups in the country.
Responding to a question from an MP, Lecornu referenced “the planning, in certain places, of an insurrectionary scheme led by far-left and ultra-left fringe groups.”
“We do not tolerate seditious fringe groups being able to march on the Élysée, on Matignon,” he said of the riots, referring to the residences of the president and prime minister, respectively.
“One must choose sides between violence and the Republic,” Lecornu declared.
Tagging reading “The golden youth” on the statue of Equality at the Republique square, after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26293465807783.jpg?w=1024" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26293465807783.jpg?w=1024" alt="Paris riots" class="wp-image-4772357" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26293465807783.jpg 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26293465807783.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26293465807783.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Tagging reading “The golden youth” on the statue of Equality at the Republique square, after a quiet night Monday under curfew, the first since weekend protests over the cost of living turned into rioting and looting across France, in Paris, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Though he made his comments about the insurrectionary scheme matter-of-factly, Lecornu said them shortly after being briefed by French intelligence at a Monday morning interministerial crisis meeting. Immediately after the meeting, he said the agencies “clearly” showed that left-wing groups were seeking to foment disorder from now until the 2027 presidential election.
“We have an extreme-left movement that is looking to create disorder, a very deep-seated disorder in the country going right up to the presidential election,” Lecornu said Monday. “I think that has been clearly said to us this morning by the intelligence agencies.”
French President Emmanuel Macron’s government has been unusually direct in pinning blame for the violence on the country’s established left-wing groups.
In an Oct. 1 government crisis meeting, French intelligence agencies pinned direct blame on left-wing politicians for hijacking student protests and turning them more radical — a readout of the meeting said: “Shared assessment by the intelligence services on the origin of the movement: an operation organised by LFI (France Unbowed) and its proxies on the far left.”
LFI is Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s socialist party, and it has surged in the polls over the past few years while chipping away at France’s center. The country’s two biggest parties are now the right-wing National Rally and socialist LFI. Macron’s Renaissance party has previously sided with the socialist LFI, but the party’s increasing radicalism and violence could change this calculus.
FRANCE ROCKED BY ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS AND RIOTS: WHAT TO KNOW
Lecornu acknowledged that the government response to the riots over the weekend was insufficient, saying it was “too static and not mobile enough.” He indicated that Saturday, when new protests are planned, would be much different.
“The Minister of the Interior has already given instructions to the prefectures,” he said. “The deployment next Saturday will be massive.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
