In a sign of how a student-led protest movement expanded to become a wider anti-government outpouring, protesters associated with a revived gilets jaunes yellow-vest movement could be out in force across France on Saturday. Left-wing groups are also expected to descend on a small city where thousands of members of the hard-right party are set to gather to hear its leader Marine Le Pen speak.
Macron decreed earlier this week that only demonstrations organised by recognised trade unions would be permitted to take place on Saturday. After a week in which some cities have lived under partial curfews, there is an inconsistent picture as to what level of protest will be permitted by authorities.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters are expected to gather in Paris and elsewhere for a second round of demonstrations organised by students, trade unions and wider anti-government groups, despite sweeping restrictions imposed across the country.
Darmanin has ordered prosecutors to seek punitive measures against people convicted of looting or attacking police officers. These measures include banning offenders from taking part in demonstrations, removing their right to vote and barring them from accessing social media.
France is on high alert ahead of a new day of nationwide protests on Saturday, a week after the country saw some of its worst unrest in decades.
The recent unrest has played out against a backdrop of a polarised political landscape, with France preparing for what could be the most divisive and unpredictable election period in a generation.
One supporter called on his peers to join protests on Saturday, as he did the previous week, before condemning the rioting that followed.
The recent unrest saw police vastly outnumbered by protesters and rioters, with shops looted and buildings torched. Perhaps most emblematically, the ornate 19th-Century town hall in Limoges was targeted during the violence.