Can there be a summer break?

As the yellow jackets begin their 25th week of demonstrations, the movement is greatly reduced. Will the summer arrival mark a well-deserved break for the protesters, the police and the people?

For the 25th consecutive week of protests on Saturday, the Yellow Waistcoats are organizing three marches in Paris, including a "Media March", during which protesters will appear in front of the main French television and radio channels, accused of biased coverage.

Demonstrations were also organized in Lyon and in the cities of Montpellier and Toulouse, in the south of France.

The hangover of May Day

After the May Day protests – when French unions, climate advocates and other disgruntled protesters joined the Yellow Vests – the yellow vests seem to be autonomous again.

On May 1st, hundreds of thousands of people marched all over France, some celebrating the May 1st tradition in France with a lily of the valley, others with signs and some "Black Blocks" lost with their proverbial chaos.

But, for the 25th act of this endless theatrical odyssey, the question for everyone is: "How long can it continue?

Figures are drastically down

One would expect that with the arrival of spring and a more mild weather, we see even more yellow jackets on Saturdays among tourists in summer in the center of Paris.

However, even though yellow jackets have faithfully been on the street every Saturday for almost six months, the numbers show that since April, the numbers have dropped considerably.

This can be attributed to two reasons:

First, despite a series of reforms that only fueled the internal market. yellow vests the late French President Emmanuel Macron seems to have risen.

In recent months, he has proposed many reforms concerning the meager incomes of the French working clbad and rural middle clbad, who say they can not make ends meet.

The big debate has been crucial for this series of government reforms. Macron rolled up his sleeves and spent months traveling the forgotten towns and villages of France.

He has devoted many hours to the true tradition of the French "debate", ostensibly addressing city councilors, people's representatives, retirees and other groups who feel left out of their position. young president's politics.

The conclusion of the great debate was a series of revolutionary reforms that promised a reshaping of the government.

But, as fate would have it, the night Macron was to proudly announce the measures on national television, a fire ravaged the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and the complaints of the Yellow Vests were momentarily forgotten.

Our Lady vs the people?

After the elimination of the dust of Our Lady, the yellow jackets expressed their astonishment at the huge amount of donations that were used to rebuild the cathedral and lamented that a national heritage monument be considered more important than the fate of the suffering mbades.

Macron returned to national television a few days later to announce his reforms.

To be fair, the reforms have addressed many concerns of yellow vests. There were tax cuts, benefits for retirees and even a closure of the ENA school, often referred to as a nursery for the French elite.

An application by KeyJellow Vests had been ignored, namely a government system headed by a referendum of citizens. But Macron's reforms seemed to have quieted a large number of protesters.

Yellow Vests began to desert the streets.

Holy summer

Another reason for the drop in the number of yellow jackets is the advent of summer.

As all those who have lived in France know, summer holidays are a sacred ritual in the country.

Whatever the political circumstances, rich and poor, young and old alike hasten to take a ray of sunshine on the summer beaches of France – from temperate Brittany to the west to the sun Mediterranean to the south.

Summer in France is indeed a good time for the truce. A time when left-handers and right-handers rub shoulders with the bright cafe terraces, burying the hatchet until the weather cools.

One wonders if this summer break, as well as the Macron reforms that seem to have addressed much yellow vests concerns, will the movement slow down to a trickle this summer?