The demonstrations of "yellow vests" triggered by rising gasoline prices should serve as a red alert to Macron

Known as yellow vests (yellow vests), they are the last evil head of the country for the beleaguered president of France. Named after high-visibility vests, the law requires French motorists to bring their vehicle in case of failure. The yellow vests are a protest movement that mobilized protests nationwide last weekend and threatens to do the same today.

The move was triggered by Emmanuel Macron's fuel tax hike, which is expected to come into effect next year, but most agree that it is more than just an increase taxes. In the space of a week, the yellow vests have managed to exploit the greatest dissatisfaction elicited by Macron 's presidency and politics, thereby gaining support and momentum from the opposition. .

These are not the usual demonstrations or strikes coordinated by political parties or unions in France.

In the absence of official organization, identified leader and political affiliation, the yellow vests phenomenon has been almost completely coordinated on social media, where he states "[This] only French people come. "

Jacline Mouraud, a grandmother from Brittany, is a grandmother whose video rant attacking fuel taxes proposed by Macron and other policies has become viral on Facebook. Some commentators even went so far as to compare the seemingly spontaneous and unstructured movement – which drew protesters from across the political spectrum – to the one that preceded the revolution of 1789. The main opposition parties took the party of yellow vests. The center-right Republicans, far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and Marine Le Pen's defender Macron's main rival in the presidency last year supported their cause. This has led to speculation about the degree of misappropriation of the movement by the political agendas, or has already been, and about the role of the far right populists within this movement.

But one thing is certain: their actions touched the public. This despite the chaos that hit France last weekend with roads blocked by protesters in some 2,000 localities. Two people were killed – one when a driver panicked and accidentally pushed his car into the crowd – during protests and hundreds of injuries.

Nevertheless, several polls have shown that nearly three quarters of French voters approve demonstrations. A survey revealed that more than half of those who voted for Macron supported them.

The expected tax increases – the price of diesel, 6.9 cents per liter and gasoline of 2.9 cents – will come into effect in January. They are seeing a 23% increase in the cost of diesel and 15% in gasoline over the last year. At the international level, Macron has made much of its commitment to fighting climate change and these increases are part of its national policies on this front. His ministers also argued that the higher price of crude in the world also needed a rise, but protesters complain that fuel taxes have steadily increased over the past four years.

A survey this week revealed that 82% of respondents believe that Macron should abandon its plans. He also showed that some demographic data – the self-employed and business leaders, as well as retirees and low-income households – were the most supportive of yellow vests. The episode also highlights the gap between the French urban elite and that of its poor rural peripheries. Workers who depend on their car to go to the countryside are particularly upset by the expected tax increases. Among these voters, Macron was already struggling with the growing perception that he was "the president of the rich" because of the way he introduced tax breaks for businesses while enacting unpopular changes to labor legislation. in France.

Surprisingly for Macron, his former environment minister, Nicolas Hulot, one of the most popular members of his cabinet before his resignation in August, chose this week to speak for the first time since his departure, saying that demonstrations against yellow vests were inevitable.

"I fought very hard, especially in the weeks before I left, for the government to radically change its method of making the energy transition socially fair … I have never been heard, "he said.

The Macron government, while staying true to rising taxes, struggled over the past week to appease the public's mind. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe detailed Wednesday a 500 million euros help plan to the lowest income motorists. And Macron is expected to announce new measures next week to make energy transition plans more "acceptable" to the general population, arguing that this is part of a long-term "green transition".

It remains to be seen if this will suffice to appease an audience more and more frustrated by Macron after raising such expectations.

Irish independent