A total of 365 vehicles were burnt in metropolitan France from Monday to Tuesday, marking the second consecutive day of violence since the presidential run-off on Sunday, according to official figures issued by police on Tuesday.
The head office of the national police (DGPN) shows in its figures issued late Tuesday that 160 arrests, mostly among extreme left supporters, were made and a policeman injured. The figures are lower compared to those recorded in the night of Sunday to Monday when 730 vehicles were torched and 595 people arrested.
The new wave of anti-Sarkozy demonstrations which degenerated into serious clashes with the police were condemned by leftists political parties, who called for calm and urged those responsible to express their discontent through voting during the forthcoming legislative elections scheduled for June 10 and June 17.
"I launched an appeal Sunday evening for responsibility and calm," Socialist Party's secretary general Francois Hollande said on RTL radio.
Paris socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoi said "democracy calls for the respect of universal suffrage."