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Activists in the "Yellow Vest" have pledged to end the French capital, Paris, next weekend, extending their campaign of disruption to compel President Emmanuel Macron to reduce taxes on gasoline. Government officials fear that the lightning demonstrations, which are turning into a broader popular protest against the economic policies of the French leader in general, do not become a long-term challenge for the state they seek to contain.
On Monday – the third day of the events – the yellow vests (yellow vests), which are named after high-visibility vests that all motorists are required to carry in their vehicles and which come mainly from low-income people from small towns and villages . Rural France has blocked roads around half a dozen refineries and fuel depots, as well as blocked traffic in several major cities in France, including Toulouse, Marseille, Strasbourg and Lille.
New movement becomes serious
The agitation was originally due to be a one-day event when activists, who organized themselves via Facebook and other social media platforms, launched a massive blockade on Saturday to protest against rising prices of "eco taxes", thanks to fuel taxes deter the French from using cars. More than 280,000 demonstrators paralyzed French motorways and disrupted Paris. But the protest provoked a revolt of anger against Macron, who was ridiculed by the Yellow Vests as "president of the rich" and whose high vision of the European Union exasperated them.
Up to now, more than 400 people have been injured during the instant blockades. A woman was killed when a panicked driver hit a roadblock. More than 300 people were arrested, although some police unions expressed sympathy for the yellow vests and promised officers to monitor the blockade without making any arrests for minor offenses.
A new breed of activists
The demonstration did not follow the usual routine of France in terms of street agitation. Generally, demonstrations and strikes are organized by unions or party leaders, who can interact with the government as protests unfold and bring leaders to an agreement.
But the Yellow Vest movement is as vast, amorphous and non-hierarchical as the Occupy movements in the United States. While occupation militants occupied a progressive, left-wing ideology, yellow jackets were more based on the right and echoed the populism of French politician Pierre Poujade, who in 1954 founded a right-wing movement for exasperated artisans and small traders. angry at high taxes.
It was also reported that Yellow Vests chanted racist and homophobic insults and, in a village near Lyon, a gay counselor and his partner were assaulted. The leaders of the far-right National Rally movement of Marine Le Pen and Nicolas Dupont's Aignan movement tried to get involved, helping to mobilize supporters for last Saturday's protest.
An unlikely leader
The figurehead of the yellow vest is Jacline Mouraud, who at first sight is an unlikely symbol of revolt. Aged 51, accordionist, hypnotist and spiritual medium Breton, she took a special importance when, on October 18, she posted a video message denouncing Macron for "persecution of drivers."
In her video, which went viral, she ridiculed the French leader and listed a series of grievances including high fuel taxes, which were increased as part of Macron's "green revolution", targeting diesel vehicles, the use of speed radars, traffic tickets and plans to increase road tolls. "What are you doing with the dough, apart from changing the porcelain at the Elysee and building a pool?" Macron mocked in the video.
She was referring to reports published this year on a palace order for a new set of plaques costing over half a million dollars to taxpayers and on the construction project of a new presidential pool – but inexpensive -.
Macron's assistants struggled to balance their contempt for movement – one of Mouraud's ridiculous as a soothsayer "who generates spirits from under his fingernails" – with their need to defuse him in a way or another. The eclectic nature of the movement with the protests expressed by the protesters – and their disdain for Macron in particular – further complicates the task of government officials, not to mention ways of disarming it. Some officials hope that the amorphousness of the movement will eventually be its downfall and that it will go away pretty much like the Occupy movements.
End of honeymoon, the storm begins
Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announced his intention to spend 500 million euros in countervailing measures, including a tax credit for low-income people, for the sale of highly polluting hybrid cars. But Philippe warned that green taxes would continue. "A government that would change direction all the time, zigzag around hardships, would not lead France where it should," he said Sunday.
The hustle and bustle of Yellow Vest coincided with the sharp drop in popularity of Macron. His approval rates have fallen to 25% – which does not really hit the bottom of his predecessor, Francois Hollande, but dangerously low for a relatively new president, analysts said.
Le Pen, who lost to Macron in last year's presidential race, clearly hopes to benefit from the excitement of Yellow Vest. A recent poll showed that his party was ahead of the vote in the European parliamentary elections next May, between 21% and 19% for The Republic in Macron March.
