Yellow jackets in their first year .. Bone breaking policy intensifies with Macron

Hisham Abu Mariam-Paris

Sunday, November 17, will mark the first anniversary of the outbreak of the yellow vest movement in France, amid the resurgence of protests with great vigor and momentum, demanding to raise the standard of living for millions of French people and reduce taxes that burden them.

On Saturday, various French cities witnessed protests for the 53rd week in a row, including violence and skirmishes with security forces in a number of major cities, led by Paris.

According to the latest ILLP poll, 69% of the French believe that the demands of the yellow jackets are legitimate.

The yellow vest demonstrations erupted a year ago, following the government's decision to increase fuel taxes. The yellow jackets were called the protesters because they took to the streets wearing the yellow night jackets of motorists, but their demands soon found widespread resonance with other social groups, outraged at Macron's liberal policies. .

The yellow vest movement remains the most serious crisis facing President Macron since he took office nearly two and a half years ago.

Government "deaf"
Christian Plano, coordinator of the movement of yellow jackets for the region of Esson (in the Parisian suburb) that the year of the movement reflects its strength and vitality and determination to continue the social struggle to achieve its goals, and to force the government to respond to its demands altogether, and not just provide painkillers "do not fatten or sing Starvation, "he described.

Plano explained in a statement to the island Net - that the government of Macron used the policy of self-long, believing that the glow of yellow jackets will fade with the passage of weeks and months, but it was a losing bet, stressing that tens of thousands of French across the country faced severe cold in winter, and hot summer In addition, security forces and police suppressed them, and despite all these difficulties, they did not surrender and did not withdraw from the squares.

He criticized the movement's indifference to the Macron government, whose popularity has deteriorated and reached record levels, with the protests and their survival; "deaf and uninteresting in the demands of the protesters since a year, and do not take urgent and concrete measures", by raising the minimum wage to at least 1,500 euros, and reduce taxes on retirees , Raising social assistance for vulnerable and poor social groups, the unemployed and students, and imposing more taxes on the rich and global companies.

Incomplete response
The Macron government caved in to a number of protesters' demands after three months of demonstrations. It decided to cancel the fuel tax that sparked the protests, decided not to raise taxes on middle, poor and retired groups, as well as a 100-euro ($ 130) increase in pensions for socially limited income.

But the government refused to respond to one of the most important demands of the yellow jackets, which is to re-tax the wealth for the rich, under the pretext that its abolition encourages the wealthy not to invest abroad.

Nor have the state enacted drastic laws to curb the tax evasion of the rich, which the protesters demanded, which they saw as a form of government collusion with the wealthy classes by virtue of their liberal orientations.

Harsh reforms
In turn, political and media analyst Mustafa Toussa considered that the movement of the yellow jackets, despite losing its momentum after 53 weeks because of the images of violence and sabotage that permeated the demonstrations and reflected negatively on its popularity; it has succeeded in largely curbing the wishes of President Emmanuel Macron to pass harsh liberal reforms, in a number Of vital sectors.

In a statement to Al Jazeera Net, Toussa pointed out that the yellow jackets imposed on the French government to wait, and sometimes to retreat from liberal laws and reform projects, which Macron regarded as a health shock to the French economy, to return it to the path of growth and production.

Boiling condition
The social situation in France has been boiling for weeks, as new professional groups entered the line to denounce the policies of the liberal government, especially in vital areas such as education, transport and health.

Massive demonstrations by health workers against the government's decision to privatize some public hospitals have also taken place. French universities have also witnessed a mass protest and general strike a few days ago, after a student set fire to his body because of suffering from severe financial problems. A month earlier, a school principal committed suicide in her office because she suffered from difficult working conditions.

Massive demonstrations are due to be held on December 5 for major trade unions in various vital sectors against the pension reform law, which the French government is deeply concerned about.

According to Mustafa Toussa, Macron fears that the demands of the yellow jackets and the other professional groups meet on the same social and political grounds, to form a major pressure element, and turn into a factor that unites their struggles, and thus will be a blow to his ambitions to run for a second term.