FR Nationwide Protest by 'Yellow Vests' - France

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"In response to a tax hike on already rising diesel prices, outraged French people, hailing predominantly from rural areas, are planning a nationwide protest on November 17.

Clad in the movement’s signature “Yellow Vests”, they plan to block roads all over the country. The demonstrations are expected to be massive: more than 850,000

people signed a petition supporting the Yellow Vests and there are hundreds of pages on Facebook calling on people to join the blockade"

So today, I'm stuck at home due to the blocage of all major motorways and duel carriageways in my area. It has been requested not to shop, buy petrol or complete any kind of bank card transaction.
I hope that the outcome will be a positive one as a large majority of the population are fed up with the government and president. I also hope that there will be no violence and that the police force that is deployed will ensure everyone's safety.
I always worry about anyone requiring emergency services when protester block the roads.

'Yellow Vests': from left to right, French political parties struggle to respond - France 24
 
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Not living in France, I am looking at the article you posted and trying to understand this ... So 1.5 % of the population, predominantly from rural areas, signed a petition as they are upset with ecologic legislation, specifically high diesel prices, and are now trying to bring the country to its knees? Truckers, Farmers and taxi drivers, of course, being well equipped to block traffic...

Would that be a correct take?

I have seen posts by German people on Facebook clamoring that Diesel car drivers in Germany should do the same.

Looking at the French parliament, it also seems that 1 of 577 delegates is from what could be called a “Green Party”, that seems a bit low to me.
 
Andy_T said:
Not living in France, I am looking at the article you posted and trying to understand this ... So 1.5 % of the population, predominantly from rural areas, signed a petition as they are upset with ecologic legislation, specifically high diesel prices, and are now trying to bring the country to its knees? Truckers, Farmers and taxi drivers, of course, being well equipped to block traffic...

Would that be a correct take?
Click to expand...

That's not the main reason. It's the lower and middle class that are fed up of high petrol prices and taxes. The cost of living has gone up and salaries and pensions down due to Macron's tax reform.
Macron is extremely unpopular and his policies are right wing despite him saying that he was 'neither to the left and neither to the right':

One year on, Macron governs as a right-wing French president - France 24
 
Very interesting, thanks for sharing!

So ... what about support for green politics in France?
 
"A woman has died after almost 300,000 people took part in the “Gilets Jaunes” fuel protests at over 2,000 blockade sites across
France yesterday (Saturday November 17).
The woman - a 63-year-old Savoie resident, named Chantal Mazet - was run over by a driver who was taking her child to the doctor.

The driver accelerated in panic when protesters began tapping on the roof of her vehicle, hitting and killing Ms Mazet.
The driver was later taken into police custody in shock.
Seven other people were seriously injured, with 227 other injuries recorded. There were 117 arrests and 73 people
were later taken into police custody, according to figures from the ministry of the Interior."

Gilets Jaunes: One woman dead as protests continue

Some of the protesters state that they will continue to block motorways and access to petrol stations. It will be interesting to see what the government has to say about the people's protest.
 
I read more about the protests on BBC News:

Ever since his election campaign, Emmanuel Macron has been keen to prove he's not afraid of French protesters. Where previous governments have blinked, Mr Macron has stared down the unions, weathered their protests, and pushed through difficult reforms on labour laws, and railway workers' pension rights.
Click to expand...
But now he's faced with a different type of protests ... More: Are French riots a curse or a blessing for Macron? (21. Nov. 2018)

I understand Macron has been quite keen to reform the economy, and I wonder if it would be fair to say he represents a sort of French version of New Labour - and I don't mean that in a negative way, necessarily.
 
Indian Summer said:
I read more about the protests on BBC News:


But now he's faced with a different type of protests ... More: Are French riots a curse or a blessing for Macron? (21. Nov. 2018)

I understand Macron has been quite keen to reform the economy, and I wonder if it would be fair to say he represents a sort of French version of New Labour - and I don't mean that in a negative way, necessarily.
Click to expand...

This ( from the article) :

''Most people agree this is about much more than fuel taxes. It's about the economic policies of President Emmanuel Macron in the face of growing frustration from low- and middle-income workers about making ends meet.

Mr Macron has presented himself as a president brought to power on the back of a grassroots movement, who could heal the rift between voters and leaders, and rebuild trust in democracy among those who felt disillusioned and detached from politics.

Since then, his campaign - like his leadership - has been criticised for being too rigid, too hierarchical, too arrogant and aloof. Now, with has approval ratings falling steeply, he's faced with a real grassroots movement, what will his response be ?''

Many people including those who voted him, can't stand him. Moreover, he has no respect for old age pensioners and has stated that they should be contributing to the economy by even more taxation of their pensions.
 
It's impossible to buy petrol. It's the third time that I've tried but in vain. There was an hour long queue at the hypermarket today. I'm sure that by Sunday they will have closed the station due to empty tanks.:(
 
Outcry as French police round up protesting high-school students

More protests are planned for today and Monday in major towns and cities. Many supermarkets are having difficulties with stocks and consumers are spending less. There are often huge queues at petrol stations and it's taking a toll on the economy.
There are plans to block petrol stations and access to major roads on Monday. More and more people are voicing their disapproval of the president and would like him to resign.

It would seem that this is just the beginning of major riots in the country. The worst since 1968.
 
Emmanuel Macron’s problems are more with presentation than policy

Yesterday's protest were once again, against Macron and have succeeded in uniting many different groups. The protesters were demanding that the president resigns. He is by far the most unpopular president since the last few decades.

I wonder how all of this is going to end as the protesters are more and more wound up ?
 
Macron seemed like such a ray of light and hope when he was elected. He was liberal Europe's wonderboy, full of innovative new ideas and solutions. And now he's "the president of the rich".

He represents the failure of the liberal elite who is ignorant of or uninterested in the daily struggles of the left-behinds, the working class and others for whom globalisation has brought only misery and economic hardship.
 
Indian Summer said:
Macron seemed like such a ray of light and hope when he was elected. He was liberal Europe's wonderboy, full of innovative new ideas and solutions. And now he's "the president of the rich".

He represents the failure of the liberal elite who is ignorant of or uninterested in the daily struggles of the left-behinds, the working class and others for whom globalisation has brought only misery and economic hardship.
Click to expand...

The following article written in April, sums up who Macron is. He only won a 1/4 of the votes in the first round of the presidential election, to now become the most unpopular president that France has ever had. Many people say that last night's speech has come to late and that he should resign. Can a former investment banker really understand the poorer workers' struggles and hardship ?

He simply takes from the poor and gives to the rich.

For the less affluent, it’s a different story. This former investment banker has slashed housing benefits, and hiked taxes on pensioners –
in a country where the average monthly pension is just €1, 300 (£1,100). His policies have shifted the workplace balance of power from workers to bosses.
French students are staging occupations and protests against more selective entry requirements for universities, derided as an attack on free universal education and France’s social model.

Don’t be fooled by Emmanuel Macron the ‘moderate’ | Owen Jones
 
''Appalling injuries caused by French police riot guns during the yellow-vest
protests have triggered anger and calls for the weapon to be banned.
The LBD launchers known by protesters as "flash-balls" have left 40 people severely wounded, reports say.''

Many protester have sustained serious injuries and many have lost an eye. On Saturday, a man part of his hand
blown off by a grenade and has lost 4 of his fingers.
I cannot comp rend that the riot police are allowed to use these kind of weapons on protester.


Shock at 'flash-ball' injuries in France
 
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