France’s ‘gilets jaunes’ leave Macron feeling decidedly off-colourFuel tax protest has widened into outburst at inequality and against ruling political class
Angelique Chrisafis
Fri 23 Nov 2018 10.34 EST
Anti-government protesters who barricaded roads and fuel depots across France this week are to stage fresh demonstrations in Paris on Saturday, as Emmanuel Macron struggles to quell a national mood of defiance.
The “gilets jaunes†(yellow vests) citizens’ movement – named after the protesters’ fluorescent, high-visibility vests – has caught the French president off-guard. The movement has no leader and its ad-hoc barricades at tollbooths, roundabouts and fuel depots have been organised on social media.
The movement, which began as a protest against rising fuel taxes, has grown into a wider outpouring over inequality, a political class seen as cut off from reality and the pro-business Macron’s persistently negative image as a “president of the richâ€. ...
Marie, 31, a childminder in the Var region of southern France, has been protesting all week at a tollbooth “People are exasperated, there is so much anger – taxes are going up, our salaries aren’t. When you work hard, it feels unfair,†she said.
“My retired parents can’t make ends meet so they had to get work distributing advertising leaflets. The government isn’t listening. To me, Macron is the president of the rich, slashing taxes for the wealthy, ignoring the rest of us. Politicians are cut off from our lives.
“Those in charge are one big oligarchy. The media can’t be trusted either. I’d consider voting Marine Le Pen, but the whole political class is a letdown and I wonder why I vote at all. I worry the future will be even worse for my three children than it is for me.†...
More at The Guardian (U.K.) A protester outside a shopping centre in Nantes walks past a wall with graffiti
saying: ‘Macron, resign.’ Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters