Paris, France (CNN) -- France entered a fifth day of nationwide strikes Saturday as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, rallying against a government proposal to raise the national retirement age to 62.
Protesters formed a line stretching two miles long near the historic Bastille Square in Paris, waving banners and shouting insults against the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, CNN's Jim Bittermann reported.
France's Interior Ministry said some 825,000 protesters turned out nationwide, while labor unions -- who oppose upping the retirement age -- said 3.5 million protesters attended the more than 200 demonstrations across the country Saturday.
Emotions ran high in France as the pension debacle continued to pit the government against French unions. Analysts say pension reform will likely be a defining moment in Sarkozy's presidency.
Despite repeated national strikes over the controversial proposal, France's National Assembly on Wednesday approved Sarkozy's pension reform bill which would raise the national retirement age from 60 to 62.The proposal passed 329 to 233, but still must pass the Senate to become law.
CNN
