“We are still not being listened to”: how the 15th action of “yellow vests” took place in France

In France, the next Saturday's protests of "yellow vests" took place. According to police, the shares were more numerous than a week ago: 47 thousand people across the country against 41.5 thousand on 16 February.

The "vests" themselves report that more than 113 thousand people participated in the demonstrations against 103 thousand last week.

The activity of the protesters is connected with the fact that for the past 15 weeks the authorities have not entered into a dialogue with the participants of the actions, said one of the leaders of the vests, Eric Drouet.

“15 weeks have passed, but we are still not being listened to. This is very bad, ”he told RT France.

Actions were held in Paris and several other French cities: Clermont-Ferrand, Toulouse, Rouen, Bordeaux, Lille. Protests quickly escalated into unrest. To disperse the demonstrators, the police used tear gas. In total, at least 28 people were detained.

According to law enforcement, about 750 "vests" gathered at the Chambord castle near the town of Blois. They organized a picnic to demonstrate to the authorities the peaceful nature of the demonstrations.

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"Destroys the Macron project"

Despite the fact that the protests have been going on for more than three months, French President Emmanuel Macron does not intend to abandon the policy, which causes the indignation of the "yellow vests". This was stated in a conversation with RT by the director of the globalization economy department of the French Information and Analytical Center for Economic Situation, Henri Sterdinyak.

“Emmanuel Macron came to power in order to pursue a certain policy: to cut taxes for the rich, for enterprises, not to increase the cost of labor, to cut spending on the social sphere, and so on. Obviously, he will not refuse from this because of the movement of "yellow vests", - he said.

“This in some sense destroys the project of Emmanuel Macron, which is to show that France is open to liberalism, that this country is becoming more and more attractive (for investors. - RT ),” added Sterdinyak.

At the same time, there is no political force that would offer a political program acceptable to the "vests", said Yury Pochta, a professor at the Department of Comparative Political Science at the RUDN University.

“There is no serious political force that could lead and propose some kind of program of struggle, transformation. The negative is that radicals join the protestors, for whom this is a reason to engage in vandalism. The situation is complicated, and there is no way out of it yet, ”he stressed in a conversation with RT.

The country's leadership does not know how to stop the actions, and therefore hopes that they will stop on their own, said Sergei Fedorov, leading researcher at the Department of Social and Political Studies at the Institute of Europe, RAS.

“Macron and the cabinet of ministers are hoping that they will be able to end the national debate by mid-March and that this will be the final point. May make a decision on the referendum. It is not yet clear what questions can be raised on it, but this can be a point in this entire line of protests, ”he told RT.

"The police only use force"

The previous action took place on February 17th - on the three-month anniversary of the start of the “yellow vests” protests.

According to the police, the day before, on February 16, about 41.5 thousand demonstrators came out all over France, of which about 5 thousand were in Paris. However, the "vests" themselves do not agree with these data - they call the figure two and three over times more - 104 thousand people across the country.

The protesters continue to demand the cessation of violence by law enforcement. On February 9, several demonstrators were injured by police actions, one of whom suffered a serious head injury. He told RT France that the police acted tough, despite the peaceful nature of the demonstration.

“Thank you” to our police and Home Secretary Christophe Castaner. His police are not engaged in maintaining law and order, but only use force. Even when we all try to avoid unrest, we are beaten, ”he said.

On February 9, another participant in the action, Sebastian Maya, was gnawed by a policeman's hand. This happened when he tried to pick up a grenade to throw away. He also injured his eyes. Doctors could not get his hand back, his father Bernard told Maya to RT.

“We stayed in the hospital until late at night to find out what will happen to him. His hand is no longer there. Then we turned to an ophthalmologist because of an eye injury, the doctor examined him: it didn’t hurt much, the wound was superficial. However, my son lost his hand. We will file a complaint, and then we'll see what happens, ”he said.

Among other requirements that "yellow jackets" put forward to the authorities are the holding of referendums of civil initiatives on issues of particular importance to France and an increase in the purchasing power of the population.