Macron’s presidency forever dented by ‘Yellow Vest’ protests
In May 2017, Emmanuel Macron pulled off a miracle. Within months of having launched a bid for the French presidency, without a party, any structure and just a handful of a core team of supporters, he managed to win the presidential election by a huge margin.
He followed up this victory with another sweeping win in the parliamentary election, even though practically none of his party’s candidates were known figures, most of them being professionals who had jumped into the fray. No matter. The French voters trusted these amateurs and gave an unprecedented majority to his party, now named La Republique En Marche (The Republic on the Move).
The French vote for Macron and his band of part-time politicians reflected the total disconnect they had begun to feel with the mainstream political parties, which had been involved in corruption, and with political leaders totally out of touch with the electorate.
In his campaign, Macron had very successfully tapped into this feeling of the French voters and promised them a government that would genuinely be of the people and by the people, and which would address the issues that are of importance to the ordinary citizens.
He began his rule in style, rushing through a string of reforms, aided by his party’s brutal majority in the French Parliament. One of his biggest wins was, of course, when he managed to stare down a four-month protest by railway workers over reforms to their working conditions and pushing back their retirement age by a few years. This had been a long-pending reform, but practically all politicians had to bow down to a near-total stoppage of railway services, leading to chaotic scenes. Macron, however, saw the reform through, highlighting continuously the need for the French to take and digest tough reforms to make the nation’s businesses competitive.
The French broadly stood by Macron’s reforms, despite the inconvenience of seeing numerous protests by the infamous French labor unions, as well as the disruption of normal rail services for months at a time. However, his attitude was increasingly being perceived as extremely arrogant, earning him the sobriquet of “Jupiter” or “Napoleon” and a “president of the rich” in the French media; an image that Macron has tried to shake off, but in vain. His presidency began to unravel with a series of unconnected blunders, including a viral video of his personal bodyguard brutally beating up a protester while wearing a police helmet. Macron did not bother to personally speak up against the bodyguard, causing an outrage.
Numerous sections of society have been hit financially by Macron’s reforms, but none as much as pensioners.
Ranvir S. Nayar
While that incident is now out of the headlines, Macron has failed to reconnect with the people. It does not help him that, so far, the impact of his reforms has been to lead a significant rise in the income of the top 1 percent of French society, while causing a dip in the income of the bottom 20 percent. Numerous sections of society have been hit financially by his reforms, but none as much as pensioners. When a group of retirees complained to him, he told them to grin and bear it — a total PR disaster for a president trying to shake off the image of being for the rich alone.
Adding to his list of blunders, when a jobseeker complained about not being able to get a job, Macron arrogantly told him to cross the street and find another.
The president could still have reversed his fortunes and won his way back into French hearts, but the proverbial last straw for the people came in the form of his taxes to promote a “green economy.” He announced a series of measures, including a heavy tax of nearly 8 cents on a liter of diesel and about 4 cents on petrol, proposed from Jan. 1, 2019, on top of tax hikes already implemented in the current year, pushing fuel prices to their highest levels in two decades. He added to these hikes with increased gas and electricity charges for homes, as well as more taxes on older vehicles.
In itself, the objective of taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and incentivize the adoption of green and less-polluting products was not something the French would have objected to. But the problem was the high-handed manner in which these measures were announced, as well as the sections of society that would be the worst-hit — the middle classes and the poorest 20 percent. Macron could have imposed these taxes in a different manner, by targeting, say, companies or imposing a carbon tax on the richest 1 percent.
And, when the “yellow vests,” or ordinary French drivers, began their protests, instead of addressing their issues and trying to explain his reasons, Macron insisted that he would push through the reforms and would not buckle in the face of any protests. This message only added fuel to the fire and reinforced people’s perception of him being locked up in an ivory tower and not concerned about the problems of the common man; the very charges that Macron had levied against the “establishment” politicians and which had won him the ticket to the Elysee Palace in the first place.
After four weeks of extremely violent and surprisingly widespread and spontaneous protests, Macron has had to beat a hasty retreat, canceling all the measures. He may have sought peace, but his presidency will be forever dented and this issue is likely to severely damage his ambitions for re-election in 2022.
• Ranvir S. Nayar is managing editor of Media India Group, a global platform based in Europe and India, which encompasses publishing, communication, and consultation services.
