PARIS BURNS ‘ YELLOW’
France’s most violent urban riot in more than a decade engulfed some of Paris’ wealthiest neighbourhoods for more than two weeks. “Yellow jacket” activists torched cars, smashed windows, looted stores and tagged the Arc de Triomphe with multi- colored graffiti. Protesters are angry about rising taxes and the high cost of living.
The “yellow vest” plunged President Emmanuel Macron’s government into its deepest crisis so far. However, Macron, whose presidency has unleashed the anger is nowhere to be seen.
“Macron, resign!” has become the main slogan of the “yellow vest” demonstrators. Protesters accuse the centrist president of favouring the rich and city- dwellers over those trying to make ends meet in car- dependent rural and small- town France. Macron’s “cardinal sin”, in the eyes of the protesters, was slashing wealth taxes shortly after taking office.
The “yellow vests”, named after the high- visibility safety jackets worn by demonstrators, blocked roads, fuel depots and shopping centres around France on November 17 over soaring fuel prices. Since then the movement has snowballed into a wider revolt against Macron’s economic policies and his top- down approach to power.
Protests also emerged at dozens of schools over stricter university entrance requirements, and a call by farmers for demonstrations next week, have added to a sense of a government under siege. The hard- line CGT union, has called for rail and Metro strikes to demand wage and pension increases.
Macron this week gave in to some of the demands for measures to help the struggling poor and middle classes, including scrapping a planned increase in fuel taxes and freezing electricity and gas prices in 2019.
THE MOVEMENT HAS SNOWBALLED INTO A WIDER REVOLT AGAINST MACRON’S ECONOMIC POLICIES