PARIS
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron will go live on television Wednesday, hoping to heal deep divisions across France caused by a brutal fight over his pensions reform that has dented his popularity.
\nWith four years to go in his second mandate, Macron will also be looking to give his government fresh momentum as it reels from the political fallout of his decision to ram the reform plan through the National Assembly without a vote.
\nThe interview comes against a backdrop of smouldering tensions in the streets, with hundreds of demonstrators arrested and police officers accused of stifling legitimate protest.
\nBefore breaking his silence in a live television interview scheduled for 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) on Wednesday, Macron spent most of Tuesday talking to ministers, advisors and other political heavyweights about the way forward.
\nPeople involved in the discussions told AFP that Macron has already ruled out any radical break with the political status quo.
\nThere will be no new prime minister to replace the incumbent Elisabeth Borne, no dissolution of the National Assembly and no referendum on the pensions reform which raised the retirement age to 64 years from 62.
\n\u2018A new chapter?\u2019
\nBut Macron also called on his troops to provide ideas in the \u201cnext two to three weeks,\u201d aimed at \u201ca change in method and a new reform agenda\u201d, one participant said, requesting anonymity.
\nTransport Minister Clement Beaune told broadcaster France Inter on Tuesday that the government could open a \u201cnew chapter\u201d with initiatives to improve the lot of ordinary French people, including their work lives and wages.
\nBut while Macron will try to turn the page on the arduous political and institutional process that got his reform through, he cannot do the same for social unrest that continues to shake France.
\nPolice arrested around 300 people within hours of the government surviving two no-confidence votes in the National Assembly over the pensions bill Monday.
\nSome protesters burned trash bins, bikes and other objects, while others blocked traffic in parts of the country.
\nSpontaneous protests by young people have seen nightly clashes with police since last week.
\nThere have been 1,200 unauthorised demonstrations since last Thursday, \u201csome of them violent\u201d, said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
\nLawyers, magistrates and some politicians accused police officers of having made what they called arbitrary arrests in an attempt to stifle anti-government protests.
\nThey cited as proof the fact that the vast majority of detained demonstrators were released after a few hours, without any charges.
\n\u201cCriminal law is being used by the government to deter demonstrators from exercising their right to demonstrate,\u201d said Raphael Kempf, a lawyer specialising in human rights and freedoms.
\nParis police chief Laurent Nunez rejected the allegations, telling the BFMTV broadcaster: \u201cThere are no unjustified arrests.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron will go live on television Wednesday, hoping to heal deep divisions across France caused by a brutal fight over his pensions reform that has dented his popularity. With four years to go in his second mandate, Macron will also be looking to give his government fresh momentum as it reels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-321207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n