Macron acknowledges the failures... and rejects the resignation of the Interior Minister

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French President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing pressure following violence on the sidelines of the protests over the weekend, acknowledged on Monday that there were “failures in being proactive and gathering intelligence.”

But he rejected the resignation of his Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, according to what the Elysee Palace said.

The French presidency added that Macron asked Nuñez to "develop new working methods for the internal security forces on the ground as soon as possible, to confront saboteurs," with the aim of "putting an end to the phenomena of setting up barricades and acts of looting."

Yesterday, Macron vowed to prosecute those involved in acts of sabotage, in light of the protests that the country witnessed. He explained that he understood the demands of the student demonstrators, stressing the need to listen to them and not confuse legitimate demands with acts of violence.

The French President also stressed that the authorities will provide protection for all shops to prevent them from being looted, stressing the need to take legal measures against the vandals. He called for holding a dialogue table to address the problems facing the country, indicating the importance of reaching solutions through discussion and listening to the demands put forward.

These statements came after major cities in France witnessed looting of shops and riots in the streets. In the capital, Paris, hundreds of institutions and stores were targeted, and rubble and burning motorcycle bodies covered entire streets on Saturday evening. Local authorities said that "entire streets were systematically vandalized," according to what AFP reported.

Small groups of young men also carried out looting of famous stores such as Lafayette and Louis Vuitton in an organized manner, as their members, wearing masks and gloves, disabled the surveillance cameras before smashing the glass facades of the stores and storming them.

In Marseille (south of the country), Lille (north), and Bordeaux (southwest), demonstrators stormed and vandalized municipal and provincial buildings.

As for Limoges (central), a fire destroyed a large part of the municipal building, a huge edifice dating back to the nineteenth century, according to local authorities.

Meanwhile, Saturday's events resulted in the arrest of about 2,400 people, and the injury of nearly a thousand members of the security forces, according to the authorities.

The Minister of the Interior is scheduled to go today to the coastal city of Marseille in southern France, which was one of the cities most affected by violence, as the authorities estimated the number of participants in the looting on Saturday at about 30,000 people.