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by Thierry Meyssan
21 October 2026
from
VoltaireNetwork Website
Translation by Roger Lagassé
On October 18,
the President of the
Republic intervened,
announcing that there
would be
no election 'unless'
order is restored.
While a dozen nations have already experienced
-
sometimes successfully -
protests
led by Generation 'Z', the recent events in France
offer an
opportunity to manipulate the population.
The
orchestrated destruction that took place on October 17
appears to
be paving the way for a state of emergency,
which
could allow for the suspension of the presidential election,
much like
what has been occurring in Ukraine for the past two years...
In this article, I will examine a dozen instances of protests by "Generation
Z" - those aged 14 to 29 - whether organized or
spontaneous.
While this generation has participated in various
protest movements across different countries, they have consistently
prioritized denouncing corruption, nepotism, and abuses of power
above all other injustices.
It is important to bear in mind that, while one cannot necessarily
manufacture the anger of a crowd, it is quite easy to divert that
anger from its original objective.
Consequently,
while these protests may begin with the
public interest in mind, they can easily go astray along the
way.
A common feature of these movements is that,
they all erupted in the wake of scandals
involving corruption or state repression...
The protesters did not align themselves with any
specific political ideology.
Rather, their primary demand was for justice...
• Mongolia:
On January 11, 2025, young people in
Ulaanbaatar took to the streets to protest the lavish lifestyle
of Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene's family.
The movement quickly expanded to denounce
corruption across the entire political class, calling for the
resignation of 33 members of parliament.
Ultimately, the Prime Minister would end up
resigning on June 3.
• Indonesia:
In February 2025, protests against corruption
erupted in Java.
They were amplified by a student union after
the government involved universities in mining projects in
exchange for free meals for all students.
The protests simmered across the country as the government
granted significant perks to the military and supported the
"transfer" of Gazans, suggesting their potential relocation to
the "world's largest Muslim-majority nation."
In August, protests resumed - spearheaded by truck drivers - in
response to substantial tax hikes.
It was at this point that the
Jolly Roger flag of the Straw Hat
crew from the
manga 'One Piece'
appeared, serving as a symbol of the fight against corruption.
Displaying it became a criminal offense,
punishable as treason.
Ultimately, President Prabowo Subianto acknowledged the
youth's right to protest and lifted the sanctions against the
pirate flag.
• Togo:
On June 26, 2025, protests broke out
following the arrest and torture of the
rapper
Aamron by the police.
The situation immediately took on a political
dimension, as his prolonged torture had been filmed by the
officers, and President Faure Gnassingbé was
simultaneously pushing for constitutional reforms to alter the
political regime.
The movement persisted until December,
eventually losing momentum in the face of a highly violent - and
often lethal - crackdown.
• Nepal:
From September 8 to 14, 2025, young people in
Kathmandu staged protests against the children and relatives of
political leaders, who had been flaunting their luxurious
lifestyles on social media.
The authorities responded by blocking social
media, but this measure had the opposite effect to the one
intended.
Ultimately, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad
Sharma Oli must resign.
• East Timor:
From September 15 to 17, a student union
demonstrated in Dili to protest against economic perks granted
to members of parliament.
In the end, the lawmakers will have to forgo
the luxury cars they had ordered.
• Philippines:
On September 21, 2025, 100,000 young people
marched in Manila against the corruption of the ruling clans -
the Marcoses and the Dutertes.
It is alleged that 70% of the funds earmarked
for flood-control efforts have vanished.
• Madagascar:
In September 2025, protests erupted across
Madagascar over the failure to distribute the benefits of
economic growth.
This followed an ill-received speech by
President Andry Rajoelina, in which he touted economic
progress that the general public has failed to see.
The widening protests culminated in a
military coup and the flight of President Andry Rajoelina.
• Morocco:
On September 27, 2025, 200,000 young people
staged chaotic demonstrations in major Moroccan cities to
protest against corruption and nepotism.
The unrest began at a time when the state was
allocating vast sums toward preparations for the FIFA World
Cup, while the country's hospitals were falling into
disrepair.
The movement was brought to an end by state
repression.
• Paraguay:
On September 28, 2025, young people began
protesting against corruption and an attempt to
amend the Constitution to allow former president - and alleged
mobster -
Horacio Cartes to return to
power.
Indigenous groups joined forces with
Generation 'Z' upon learning that the offices of the 'Instituto
Paraguayo del Indígena' (INDI) were being relocated to a
military base.
The movement ceased on October 3, after
President Santiago Peña reversed the decision.
• Mexico:
On November 15, 2025, following the
assassination of a mayor by a cartel, tens of thousands of young
people took to the streets to demand security and protest
against corruption.
The demonstrations ended in mid-December,
with no resolution in sight.
• Bulgaria:
On November 26, 2025, protests by young
people broke out against a draft budget that would have shifted
the funding of pensions and social security from businesses to
general taxation, as well as against corruption.
The protests only ceased a month later,
following the resignation of the Zheliazkov government
and the withdrawal of the reform.
• Japan:
On May 3, 2025, 50,000 young people
demonstrated against the remilitarization of their country,
using glow sticks - reminiscent of those seen at K-pop
concerts or during the attempted imposition of martial law
in South Korea.
Such protests soon spread throughout the
nation, eventually subsiding only due to sheer exhaustion.
• India:
On May 15, 2026, the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court likened unemployed youth to "cockroaches."
In response, a young communications student
founded the "Cockroach
People's Party." He organized demonstrations that
continued until the Minister of Education resigned.
The movement resurged in October, protesting
a reform of the electoral rolls - a procedure that effectively
excluded the poorest Indians.
The movement persists today, even with its
leader now imprisoned. [1]
The October 17th
Protests in France
Beginning September 18, 2026, high school students - first in
Créteil, then across the
Île-de-France region, and eventually throughout the entire country -
began demonstrating against their study conditions.
They were soon joined by university students, and
later, by public sector labor unions.
While the initial demonstrations were peaceful, unrest began to
emerge after certain left-wing elected officials declared that
violence was legitimate.
Agitators and rioters joined the ranks of the
high school and university students, causing extensive damage to
schools and universities.
Meanwhile, police officers began to question
their own leadership; they were receiving contradictory orders that
prevented them from protecting the protesters and left them
vulnerable to the rioters.
Nationwide demonstrations were announced for October 17.
The "Yellow
Vests" - the informal movement that emerged in 2018-2019
to protest fuel prices and advocate for "peripheral"
(non-metropolitan)
France - joined the movement,
with the goal of fighting against the high cost of living.
The police, despite their reputation for great precision,
underestimated the size of these gatherings, placing the number of
protesters at a maximum of 150,000 - when in reality, there were
between 550,000 and 800,000...
Police leadership ensured that public-order units
were deployed only in numbers commensurate with these low estimates,
and saw to it that they were supplied with only a minimal amount of
tear gas and dispersal grenades.
European "black blocs" brought in thousands of militants, primarily
from,
-
Italy
-
Switzerland
-
Germany
-
Belgium
On October 17, clashes broke out before noon and
continued until the early hours of the 18th.
The police, completely overwhelmed, were unable
to protect anyone or anything - with the sole exception of the
Élysée Palace.
More than 600 police officers and gendarmes were
injured, yet only 26 individuals were brought before the justice
system. 3,000 businesses were destroyed, and historic buildings were
set on fire.
The damage is estimated at several
hundred million euros...
Analysis
No single specific event triggered the high school student protests.
Rather, it was a manifestation of widespread
fed-up-ness - a sense among an entire generation that they have
been abandoned.
They are told,
-
that they must make do with poorly
insulated school facilities, where they suffer from extreme
heat or cold depending on the season
-
that they cannot expect to have teachers
when their own are out sick
-
that, in any case, they will never find
employment, as they will be replaced by artificial
intelligence
-
that they will still be expected to pay
off the debt - and the interest on that debt - accumulated
by their parents' generation
Initially, a left-wing political party attempted
to co-opt these demonstrations by positioning itself outside high
school exits.
But
everything changed on October 17...
It is clear that certain individuals within the police command
structure took deliberate steps to ensure the demonstration would
escalate into chaos - showing total disregard for both the
protesters and their own subordinates, the police officers on the
ground.
Notably, in an unprecedented move, the primary
police union,
Alliance, filed a formal legal
complaint against "persons unknown" ('plainte contre X') on October
14, citing the "endangerment of the lives of others."
This organization is gathering accounts from
across the country to identify the officers who orchestrated the
chaos.
It is worth asking, as these police officers themselves do,
...what the hidden figures behind this
violence are aiming to achieve.
It is likely that they are preparing an operation
intended to disrupt the presidential election scheduled for April 18
and May 2, 2027.
It is possible that these hidden figures are in France,
though it is also conceivable that they are abroad - a hypothesis
reinforced by the participation of European "black bloc" groups.
How can one forget that in 2011, the
presidential candidate leading in the polls, Dominique
Strauss-Kahn, was arrested in New York for rape - by local
police, but with the assistance of the Pentagon - thereby
ensuring the election of his "friend," François Hollande?
[2]
How can one forget that in 2017, the presidential candidate
leading in the polls, François Fillon, was implicated for
having hired his wife as a parliamentary assistant - even though
she performed no work at the National Assembly - thereby paving
the way for the election of a third party, Emmanuel Macron?
And is it not possible that in 2027, the presidential candidate
leading in the polls, Marine Le Pen, might be convicted
by the courts and stripped of her civic rights - or that the
situation might necessitate placing the country under a "state
of emergency," or perhaps, under the new provision introduced by
the law of August 16, 2026, a "national security alert state"?
Addressing the nation the very next day,
President Emmanuel Macron provided a brief
assessment of this day of destruction. [3]
He concluded that the French people were
powerless in the face of such violence.
He then concluded by expressing a desire to
restore order - so that the elections might take place.
References
[1] "The
"Cockroach People's Party" Sounds the Call for Revolt among the
Have-Nots in Bharat", Translation Gregor Fröhlich,
Voltaire Network, 19 October 2026.
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