I made a conscious effort to avoid entries on the CPE protests over the weekend, but a fair few things have been happening.

On Thursday, the President of the University (equivelent of a Vice Chancellor in an English Uni) announced that he intended to hold a referendum amongst the students, posing the question "Should classes continue?". This was to be held on Tuesday 14th March.

On Friday, during some protests, a student managed to break her arm.

Later, I also received an open letter sent by the Uni President to the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin. This stated that the 'Conseil' of the University (the group of the important people) were also against the CPE. But, in light of increasing tensions at the university, he also asked Villepin to reconsider his decision not to remove the law, and to enter into discussions with the student unions.

Early on Saturday morning, the CRS raided the famous Sorbonne university in the centre of Paris, removing students staging a sit-in by force.

On Monday morning, the unions issued a combined statement, stating that they would boycott the referendum to be held tomorrow, stating there was no need for it. Instead, Nanterre being the only place to plan a referendum, the university would become a base for the movement and for a debate. Further street protests have also been announced.

 

 

I went to choir anyway, seeing if it was able to continue or not (the answer being not on campus), and it appears that the closure is because of a fear of violence tomorrow when students from across France will descend on our University. The referendum has also been cancelled - I imagine partially because with a boycott there's no point; but also to try and stop everyone arriving at the campus.

If tomorrow passes off without incident, we'll probably be back in classes on Wednesday, or on Thursday at the latest. If there's problems though - and not just on campus but on the street marches as well - then we'll have to see...