#anti-macron

(Satire à vue) C’est le début d’une affaire qui va défrayer la chronique… Par Jany Leroy Continue reading Untitled

New Post has been published on https://www.chiangraitimes.com/thousands-of-yellow-vests-back-on-frances-streets-to-challenge-president-macron.html

Thousands of 'Yellow Vests' Back on France's Streets to Challenge President Macron

  PARIS – Thousands of “yellow vest” protesters returned to the streets of France Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, clashing with police in several cities in a challenge to his bid to quell the movement.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to push back protesters at Place de la Bastille in Paris, one of the regular protest areas, as some demonstrators threw stones from a building site.

The local prefecture reported 223 arrests in Paris, while the interior ministry estimated numbers for the 11th week of protests were at 69,000 across France, compared with 84,000 last Saturday.

The demonstrations erupted in mid-November over Macron’s economic reforms, but have since grown into a wider rallies calling for the resignation of the former investment banker who critics say is out of touch with the economic struggles of ordinary French people.

‘Yellow vests = World revolution against finance!’ There were clashes during the protests at Place de la Bastille in Paris.

In Paris and other cities, the yellow vest movement had called for the protests to continue into the night.

But police quickly dispersed several hundred protesters in the capital’s symbolic Republique square, using stun grenades as well as tear gas and water cannon to clear the area, AFP journalists said.

Clashes erupted too in Nantes in western France and in the southern city of Montpellier, where a police officer was injured by “a pyrotechnic device”, said a statement from the local prefecture.

In Paris, the official count was 4,000 demonstrators against 7,000 the previous weekend.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Twitter criticised “rioters disguised as yellow vest protesters” after Saturday’s clashes.

‘Keeping the Pressure On’

The weekend’s protests against Macron’s tax and social policies came as divisions appeared among the yellow vests — named after the high-visibility vests they wear — as to where to take the movement.

Jerome Rodrigues, one of the leaders of the yellow vest movement is evacuated after getting injured in the eye during clashes between protesters and riot police on the sideline of Saturday’s protests in Paris.

In a new political development, a 31-year-old nurse named Ingrid Levavasseur said this week she would lead a yellow vest list of candidates for the European elections in May.

An initial survey in the wake of the announcement suggested they would garner a respectable 13 percent of the vote.

But not every protester appeared to welcome this development.

“There is a hard core that is ready to keep fighting,” said 42-year-old Gilbert Claro from the Paris suburbs. But the movement “is not meant to be political”, he added.

“We have to keep the pressure on in the streets,” to get their demands accepted, said Virginie, an activist in her 40s who said she had been involved in the protests from the beginning.

She and many other protesters want a citizen-sponsored referendum so ordinary people can have more of a say in government policy.

Outside Paris, several thousand protesters were marching in Bordeaux and Toulouse in the southwest, two of the cities where support for the movement has been consistently strong.

This idea has been consistently rejected by the government, although Macron made some concessions last December in a bid to end the protests.

Recent opinion polls suggest that he has regained some of the ground lost during the crisis, as he has presented his case in a series of town hall events around the country.

The “great national debate” he initiated in response to the protests has nevertheless been dismissed as a public relations operation by many yellow vest protesters.

The debate is a “masquerade”, said Mathieu Styrna, a 36-year-old carpenter from northern France in Paris for the protests. His impression, he said, was that the participants had been selected.

Night Protests

Outside Paris, several thousand protesters were marching in Bordeaux and Toulouse in the southwest — two of the cities where support for the movement has been consistently strong.

The yellow vest protest have led to repeated clashes between police and protesters.

In Bordeaux, police broke up small groups of protesters tossing fireworks and bottles as night fell.

In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, members of the CGT union joined the protests and about a thousand protesters turned out in the eastern city of Lyon.

For the first time on Saturday, riot police used controversial defence ball launchers (LBDs) that shoot 40-millimetre (1.6-inch) rubber and foam rounds were equipped with cameras.

A French court on Friday refused a bid brought by France’s League for Human Rights (LDH) and the CGT to ban the weapons, blamed for serious injuries suffered by some demonstrators.

The police authority in Paris announced the introduction of cameras in a move for greater transparency.

On Sunday, supporters of the government will stage their first “red scarf” protest to represent what they say is “the silent majority” defending “democracy and its institutions” and denouncing the violence of the yellow vests protests.

Two-thirds of people questioned in a IFOP-Journal du Dimanche survey published Sunday said they thought the demonstrations had not succeeded in changing how Macron was governing France.

New Post has been published on https://www.chiangraitimes.com/yellow-vest-protesters-storm-interior-ministry-in-paris.html

'Yellow Vest' Protesters Storm Interior Ministry in Paris

PARIS -“Yellow vest” protesters returned in force to the streets of France this weekend, clashing with police in several cities and smashing their way into a Interior ministry in Paris with the help of a forklift truck.

In Paris, yellow vest protesters set up burning barricades as they took to the streets for another Saturday protest against Macron’s pro-market policies.

The Interior Ministry put the number of protesters who took to the streets on Saturday at 50,000, compared with 32,000 on Dec 29 when the movement appeared to be weakening after holding a series of weekly Saturday protests since mid-November.

Government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux, who was evacuated from his ministry in central Paris when a handful of protesters in high-visibility vests smashed down the large wooden door to the ministry compound, denounced the break-in as an “unacceptable attack on the Republic”.

“Some yellow vest protesters and other people dressed in black … got hold of a construction vehicle which was in the street nearby and smashed open the entrance gate to the ministry,” he told AFP.

They briefly entered the courtyard where they smashed up two cars, broke some windows then escaped, he added, saying police were trying to identify them from security footage.

President Emmanuel Macron did not specifically refer to the incident, but tweeted his condemnation of the “extreme violence” against “the Republic, its guardians, its representatives and its symbols”.

Agitators’ Strike Back

Griveaux had on Friday criticized the yellow vest movement, describing those still involved as “agitators” who were seeking “to overthrow the government”.

Police said some 3,500 demonstrators turned up on the Champs-Elysees on Saturday morning.

Some then made their way south of the river to the wealthy area around Boulevard St Germain, where they set light to a car and several motorbikes and set up burning barricades, prompting police to fire tear gas to try and disperse them.

Police said 35 people were arrested.

Demonstrators took to the streets of several other cities across France, with up to 2,000 people in Rouen northwest of Paris, where some set up burning barricades. One protester was injured and at least two others were arrested, police said.

Some 4,600 protesters hit the streets of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, with some hurling stones at police who answered with tear gas and water cannon.

Five police were hurt and 11 people arrested, local authorities said, adding that several cars were torched and shop windows broken.

Further south in Toulouse, 22 people were detained following clashes that erupted after 2,000 people turned out to demonstrate.

And in the central-eastern city of Lyon, several thousands took to the streets, blocking access to the A7 motorway and causing traffic jams for those returning from Christmas holidays in the mountains.

The yellow vest movement began in rural France over plans to increase fuel taxes.

But it later ballooned into a wider revolt against Macron’s pro-market policies and governing style, with 282,000 people joining the first Saturday rally on Nov 17.

Macron initially refused to make any concessions, but in mid-December, after weeks of violence, he scrapped the planned fuel tax hike and promised extra cash for minimum wage earners as well as tax cuts for pensioners.

The protests have turned into the biggest political crisis of Macron’s 20-month presidency and brought his popularity ratings to an all-time low.

Although public anger appeared to abate following his concessions and over the holiday period, the brief arrest on Wednesday of Eric Drouet, one of the leaders of the movement, appeared to rekindle resentment among his supporters.

The latest opinion poll, published on Thursday by Odoxa Dentsu, indicated 55% support the protests — a figure which, although lower than the 75% back in November, is still important enough to suggest the anti-austerity movement retains political clout.

Former cinema icon Brigitte Bardot, who is known today for her rightwing views and animal rights activism, on Sunday said she understood what motivated the yellow vest movement.

“When I see the millions spent on incredibly trivial things, when I see politicians using private planes and chauffeur-driven cars to get around (…) all this money spent is unacceptable,” she told the Midi Libre newspaper.

“It should be given instead to people in need.”

A baleset Pont-de-Beauvoisin településen történt, ahol egy gyerekét orvoshoz szállító nő pánikba esett, és a tüntetők közé hajtott, amikor azok elkezdték ütögetni a gépkocsiját

Először szerveztek civilek tiltakozó megmozdulást Franciaországban: az üzemanyag adójának emelése ellen szombaton délután mintegy 2 ezer helyszínen több mint 100 ezren tiltakoztak – közölte a francia belügyminisztérium. Egy tüntető meghalt a francia Alpokban, amikor egy pánikba esett autós megpróbált egy útblokádon áthajtani, és több helyszínen is történtek balesetek, 47-en megsérültek.

  Az interneten felháborodott autósok által néhány hete indított, a gépkocsikban kötelezően tartandó láthatósági sárga mellényről elnevezett sárga mellényesek mozgalma nagyobb útkereszteződések, benzinkutak, bevásárló központok, repülőterek, pályaudvarok, autópályák le- és felhajtóinak elfoglalására, valamint a párizsi körgyűrűn forgalomlassító akciókra kérték az autósokat szombat reggel 7 órától az üzemanyagok környezetvédelmi adójának jövőre tervezett emelése miatt.

  A belügyminisztérium összesítése szerint kora délután 124 ezren tiltakoztak 2 ezer helyszínen, de eddig egyetlen várost vagy gazdasági központot sem zártak le a tüntetők, az ország nem bénult le. Párizsban mintegy ötven sárga mellényes követelte a forgalom elöl lezárt Champs-Elysées sugárúton Emmanuel Macron államfő lemondását, de a elnöki hivatal elé nem jutottak el, az oda vezető utcákat hermetikusan lezárták a rendőrök.

  Massive grassroots anti-Macron movement sweeps through #France today with 100s of 1000s of people blocking streets, highways, gas stations, shopping centers etc to protest against austerity and high taxes. #FrenchRevolution #GILETSJAUNES pic.twitter.com/QPWVwHd9gH

— Nikola Mirkovic (@1NikolaMirkovic) 2018. november 17.

  A baleset Pont-de-Beauvoisin településen történt, ahol egy gyerekét orvoshoz szállító nő pánikba esett, és a tüntetők közé hajtott, amikor azok elkezdték ütögetni a gépkocsiját. Egy 63 éves tüntető nő a helyszínen életét vesztette. Az autót vezető nőt őrizetbe vették. Az északi Arrasban is történt hasonló jellegű baleset, de ott az elgázolt személy nem halt meg a belügyminisztérium szerint.

  Eddig 47-an sérültek meg országszerte, közülük hárman súlyosan. Grasse városában egy rendőrt gázoltak el, aki könnyebb sérülést szenvedett. A sofőrt előállították.

  Az incidensek nyomán országszerte 26 előállítás történt.

  “A tüntetés joga mindenkit megillet hazánkban, meg kell védeni, de kell valamilyen minimális szervezettséget kell adni a tüntetésnek, hogy ilyen tragédiák ne történjenek”

  – figyelmeztetett Christophe Castaner belügyminiszter.

  A kormány az elmúlt napokban nagyon óvatosan nyilatkozott, miután kiszámíthatatlan a spontán és apolitikus tiltakozás mérete, amelynek nincsenek beazonosítható vezetői.

  “Nagyon figyelmesek és óvatosak leszünk, hogy a tiltakozáshoz való jogot tiszteletben tartsuk, de a közlekedési szabadságot szavatolni kell” – mondta pénteken Edouard Philippe miniszterelnök. “Tiltakozni lehet, de lebénítani az országot, amikor a mentőautóknak muszáj közlekedniük, amikor mindenki szeretne holnap közlekedni, az természetesen elfogadhatatlan” – tette hozzá.

  A figyelmeztetés mellett a miniszterelnök jelezte: a kormánynak nem célja “csapdát állítani a franciáknak” vagy megfizettetni velük annak a következményét, hogy milyen gépkocsit választottak. Emlékeztetett arra, hogy a rezsicsökkentő támogatásokat az eddigi 3 millióról mintegy 5,6 millió háztartásra terjeszti ki a kormány jövőre, így ezen a jogcímen félmillió euróval nőnek a költségvetési kiadások annak kompenzálásaként, hogy a gázolaj áfája literenként 6,5 eurócenttel, a benziné pedig 2,9 eurócenttel emelkedik. A legszerényebb jövedelmű autósok az eddigi 2 ezer euró helyett 4 ezer eurós támogatást kapnak, ha energiatakarékosabb gépjárművet vásárolnak.

  A politikai ellenzék is meglepődött

  A kormány ígérete a kompenzálásokról és az üzemanyagáraknak az elmúlt napokban bekövetkezett csökkenése semmilyen hatással nem volt a mozgalomra, és nem tántorította el a szervezőket a szombati akciótól.

  A spontán, elsősorban a Facebookon szerveződő és vezetők nélküli mozgalom láthatóan a politikai ellenzéket is meglepetésként érte: az ellenzéki politikusok szolidárisak a tiltakozókkal, de óva intenek a törvénytelen akcióktól.

  Az Odoxa közvélemény-kutatóintézetnek csütörtökön és pénteken 1005 francia nagykorú állampolgár megkérdezésével készült felmérése szerint a franciák 74 százaléka támogatja a sárga mellényesek mozgalmát, akik a francia kormány gazdaságpolitikája elleni általános elégedetlenség jelképévé váltak néhány nap alatt.

  MTI

Russia Today (RT;France) et Sputnik: Retour sur leur propagande anti-Macron

Russia Today et Sputnik, deux médias pro-Poutine ayant leur antenne en France, ont colporté largement des propos et  informations anti-Macron pendant la campagne présidentielle et pas seulement selon Libération.fr et leFigaro.fr (deux médias ayant un point de vue différent sur la politique française).

Pourtant, il ne faut pas totalement annihiler tout le travail fait par Russia Today et Sputnik…