A protester wearing a yellow vest (gilet jaune) raises his fist in front of security forces during a demonstration on Saturday ( AFP/Getty Images )
DECEMBER 15th 2018
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily
Fifth Saturday of Yellow Vest Protests in France, Thousands Still March
It’s the fifth weekend of protests against the French President Emmanuel Macron and his government, as protestors once again march our into the streets, even despite having previously been advised to hold off on the protests after a recent gun attack in Strasbourg earlier in the week. The protests are occurring all across the nation, primarily in Paris, despite Macron having reached out to try and appease the protestors on a previous occasion.
According to a police source, there are fewer protestors marching the streets this week than there were in the last week, a sign, some think, that the Yellow Vest protests are slowly if surely coming to an end. Police have been running low on forces to help contain all possible outbursts of violence that have often spawned from the protests, primarily in Paris, but some stores are opening up again for Christmas time. Near the Champs-Elysees, there have even been instances of the use of tear gas on the police’s side, aimed at smaller protest groups during clashes.
It was around the middle of November when the protests had begun, initiated by marchers wearing yellow vests primarily, hence given the name of ‘The Yellow Vests’, known to oppose Macron’s government, and growing overtime. They started out as protests against the rise in fuel prices and taxes, which were implemented partially with environmental concern, but soon evolved and became more focused around protests of Macron’s politics and government.
The protests had, of course, like any other protests, devolved into acts of theft and vandalism over the past weeks, with many using the riots as excuses to break into, and steal from shops and stores. Clashes with police had become more frequent as well as many of the protestors grew more and more aggressive over the course of passing time.
The protests will go on until all of the protestor’s grievances and concerns are fully addressed and discussed by Macron, but there has been a definite calming this week, with fewer protestors, all according to 44 year old Loic Bollay, one of the yellow vest marchers at Champs-Elysees, adding also that “Since the Strasbourg attack, it is calmer, but I think next Saturday and the following Saturdays... It will come back.”
After a meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels, Macron made several statements on the present issues of France and the protests, calmly illustrating that “France needs calm, order and a return to normal,” last Friday. He stated that after nearly a month of all these protests by the Yellow Vest movement, against his and his government’s economic policies, it’s high time for a return to the norm, to put an end to the now widespread violence.
As an attempt to put some of the pressure off of the protests, and perhaps appease the French people, Macron had announced on Monday that there shall be wage rises for the poorest workers and tax cuts for pensioners. These are just some of his attempts to sort out the protests, as the president hopes he can put an end to them all soon.
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily
