An unprecedented crisis, as the French newspaper Les Echos defines it, identifying the factors that make the gilets jaunes protest unique and terribly dangerous for President Emmanuel Macron, once again marked by violent clashes on Saturday 1 December in Paris. The balance of the guerrillas in the center of the French capital is even worse than that of the previous demonstrations, as if the anger, which Macron says he understands but which he only faces on Sunday 2 December, with a emergency summit convened after returning from the G20 in Buenos Aires, is increasing rather than subsiding: more than 250 arrested and a hundred injured, including 15 among the forces of order (total that rises to 263 injured, 81 among the forces of order, and 630 arrested considering the clashes throughout France ). It is now evident, among other things, that violent fringes of the extreme right are infiltrating the marches, which, however angry, are made up of mostly peaceful protesters.
And this is precisely the first factor noted by Les Echos, which defines that of the gilets jaunes as an "out of control" movement. “They aren't that many – says the transalpine newspaper -: in 2010 a million pensioners took to the streets to contest Sarkozy's reform, which was not affected in the slightest. Today there are 150.000 demonstrators but they are ready for anything and bring together extreme fringes of the extreme left and extreme right”. This is why Macron is surrounded: the protest of French motorists it is these days ridden by practically all oppositions, from the leftist radical Melenchon to the revived Marine Le Pen. Everyone condemns the violence, but everyone sympathizes with the demonstrators, applauding the popular insurrection that is making the position of the president waver, elected just a year and a half ago and already plummeting in the approval rating.
Apple of discord, as well as tip of the iceberg of an increasingly widespread discontent especially in the provinces, is always the ecological tax wanted by the Government, that has practically declared war on diesel by increasing excise duties on fuel and offering a bonus of 4.000 euros for the purchase of a new, less polluting car. “It is a question of adding only 1.000 euros to it”, some ministers have repeated in recent weeks, only increasing the anger of the yellow vests. A thousand euros are not a few, given that a recent survey has shown that 1/4 of the poorest families goes into the red already in the middle of the month, and that the famous thousand euros must be added to the increase in petrol (and gas heating), which in 2022 will lead to a further expense of over 500 euros per year for an average citizen who travels by diesel car and uses the Home heating.
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While the damage is still being counted in Paris (protesters burned cars and devastated shop windows in the center, also endangering thousands of incredulous tourists), Macron has therefore brought together the executive to deal with the crisis. Before, he personally thanked the police, left shattered since Saturday (despite the extraordinary deployment of over 5.000 agents), and visited some of the streets most affected by the devastation: in the first contact with citizens returning from Argentina, the president was booed but many cases even applauded, demonstrating that the protest, although shared by a majority of French people, has resulted in the most unprecedented violence and is no longer so well seen by a part of the population.
The summit revealed that the security alert will remain high in the coming days and that the police will work to ensure that "no guilty person goes unpunished". On the front of dialogue with the gilets jaunes, Macron after the first openings last week has once again recommended Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to meet the representatives of the demonstrators, as well as the opposition parliamentary group leaders. The latter are clamoring for the resignation of the tenant of the Elysée and early elections. The Government will also report to Parliament on Tuesday: Senate President Gerard Larcher has already said that another tense Saturday will not be tolerated. But it seems that instead there is a risk: the Facebook and Twitter groups of the gilets jaunes are once again calling together their followers to invade Paris on Saturday 8 December as well.
