May Day protests in France signal a troubled summer
In a wide-ranging press conference last week — the first since he became French president two years ago — Emmanuel Macron announced another series of decisions aimed at those involved in the “Gilets Jaunes” (Yellow Vests) protests that have become the norm every Saturday in his country since November.
At the end of what he called the “great national debate” — in which Macron attended dozens of town hall meetings in various parts of France over a period of three months — a mix of tax rebates for the middle classes and an improvement in some subsidies for the poor came alongside a promise of rapid acceleration of the reforms that he has been implementing since winning the May 2017 elections.
Macron also ruled out rolling back any of the measures that have already been taken by his government, and said that he would continue with the “transformation” of France, albeit with a more humane face and consideration for the poor. His pronouncements were almost immediately rejected by the Yellow Vests, who accused Macron of turning a deaf ear to the demands they have been making since November.
And they promised him their response on the streets on May Day — an occasion that has traditionally been celebrated with flowers and a festive environment but has also become a gathering for the airing of grievances against the government and society generally. Hence, this May Day saw nearly double the number of people on the streets across France compared to last year. Supporting the Yellow Vests were the extreme-left “Black Bloc” militants who had rampaged through Paris and other key cities in last year’s protests, leaving behind scores of shattered storefronts and burning cars around the key streets and landmarks of France.
This year, thanks to a stronger presence and better preparations, the police managed to avoid any major damage, but the sheer number of demonstrators and the merging of extreme-left militants with the mainly non-violent Yellow Vests are causes for concern for Macron, who seems incapable of putting the Gilets Jaunes djinn back in the bottle, despite numerous attempts to placate them, even if some were clearly half-hearted.
Macron seems incapable of putting the Gilets Jaunes djinn back in the bottle, despite numerous attempts to placate them.
Ranvir Nayar
In his address, Macron also announced that he aimed to end unemployment in France by 2025, while maintaining his target of bringing it down to 7 percent by the end of his current mandate in 2022. However, he also alluded to a radical transformation of unemployment benefits. He did not say what that meant and also did not give any details about how his measures would be implemented and, more importantly, financed. He once again ruled out rolling back the abolition of the wealth tax — a key demand of the protesters, who see this as the biggest hurdle in countering the economic inequality that has been rising in France, as in many other parts of the world.
Macron’s measures were derided by his opponents and the protesters within hours of them being announced. They accused the president of not really listening to anything that was said during his national debate. They say that Macron has “gifted” the very wealthy nearly €5 billion ($5.6 billion) a year by abolishing the wealth tax, while common pensioners have to struggle with a monthly payment of only €800, about 40 percent lower than the minimum wage in the country.
The unemployment rate, though declining, remains stubbornly high at about 9 percent, as against barely 3 percent in Germany, while even the Brexit-hit UK has seen unemployment fall below 4 percent. In France, more than 5.6 million people are looking for jobs. And, worryingly, the number of people out of a job for more than a year has been rising. Unemployment is also extremely unevenly distributed, and there continue to be ghettos in areas of Paris and in several older industrial towns and rural areas where the jobless rate among youth is close to 35 percent.
Many of these, as well as the pensioners and people in the “old economy” industries, don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel and have almost given up on the government helping them out of their misery. It is this large core group that remains unimpressed by Macron, and many of them have hardened their opposition to practically everything the French president has to say.
Making up a big chunk of voters, they are likely to vote with their feet in the European Parliament elections this month. Though they remain politically disparate, between the extreme right and the extreme left, two principal parties — National Rally on the right and La France Insoumise on the left — are expected to harvest the discontent of those who feel excluded from the political and economic scenario in the country.
Macron’s En Marche, which has swept practically all the elections since his surprise win two years ago, is unlikely to be able to repeat its magic, with significant gains forecast for the opposition, even if it remains severely divided.
• 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.
