Macron feels the heat as rioting erupts at ‘yellow vest’protest
RIOTING broke out on the ChampsElysées yesterday as police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of demonstrators protesting against fuel tax increases and President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms.
In the northern commune of SaintEtienne du Rouvray, a journalist was reportedly assaulted by protesters, prompting Mr Macron to tweet: “Shame on those who attacked other citizens and journalists … No place for violence in the Republic.”
The interior ministry said more than 106,000 protesters took part in the demonstrations across France and 130 were arrested, including 42 in Paris.
The base of the Arc de Triomphe was obscured by clouds of tear gas while “yellow vest” demonstrators set fire to a trailer and barricades. They chanted “Macron démission!” (Macron resign).
Some shops on the Champs-Elysees were vandalised during the unrest.
The “yellow vests” – so-called because they wear high-visibility jackets – are part of a movement that began as a fuel tax revolt but now encompasses broader grievances about the high cost of living. The force and nature of the grassroots protests have led some commentators to warn that Mr Macron is facing a “Marie Antoinette moment” as his approval ratings tumble.
Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, accused Marine Le Pen, the far-Right leader, of encouraging her supporters to clash with police. “The ultra-Right is mobilised and is building barricades on the Champs-Elysées,” he said. Ms Le Pen, who has backed the protests, said: “I never called for any violence whatsoever.”
Mr Castaner blamed the clashes on a minority who hurled rocks and bottles at police, while most of the protesters demonstrated peacefully. The authorities said about 8,000 people took to the streets of Paris. Some 3,000 police were deployed in the capital.
Mr Macron justifies the tax increases, which have caused diesel prices to go up by 23 per cent in 12 months, as an anti-pollution measure. Only about a third of Parisians own cars, but price rises have provoked fury in rural areas less well served by public transport.
Across the country, the demonstrations attracted less support than similar protests last weekend, when roads were blocked by more than a quarter of a million “yellow vests”.
The unrest represents a major challenge for the beleaguered Mr Macron, whose approval ratings have plummeted below 30 per cent. Opinion polls suggest more than three-quarters of French people sympathise with the protests. Sylvie Poireau, 46, from a small town outside Paris, said: “We’re made to pay higher taxes while they’ve scrapped the wealth tax on the rich. My daughter’s disabled and I struggle at the end of every month to buy food.”
Police arrested 42 people on the Champs-Elysees yesterday. Twenty people were injured, including four police officers.