France's Macron Pushes for 'Anti-Demonstration Bill' in Congress

French MPs on Tuesday began debating a controversial "anti-rioting bill" which officially claims to crack down on the violent elements that have been seen during the "yellow vest" anti-government protests since November, despite numerous accounts of violent police repression that has already caused hundreds of injured and at least killed one person so far.

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The bill aims to ban individuals identified as habitual hooligans from taking part in demonstrations, and force protesters involved in acts of violence to pay for the material damage. Some MPs also want more severe penalties for organizers of unauthorized demonstrations as well as people who cover their faces during violent protests.

But the bill has drawn fire — even within President Emmanuel Macron's own conservative party — from critics who argue the proposals represent a threat to civil liberties.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner insisted the bill, backed by police unions, was not "an anti-yellow vest law" or "anti-demonstration" law.

Leftist critics have decried the bill as "liberticide" and have been little reassured by Castaner's suggestion that a protest ban would concern fewer than 300 people.

Already revised by Braun-Pivet's commission, more than 200 amendments have been proposed to the bill, with a final vote due next Tuesday.

The protests began in November against rising fuel taxes but quickly spiraled into a wider revolt as Macron, a former banker, has been increasingly perceived as out of touch with ordinary people in small-town and rural France.

Across France tens of thousands have joined protests and roadblocks, although the numbers have eased in recent weeks after Macron announced a series of policy climbdowns and a public consultation so people could vent their anger.