The depth of Macron chaos - 50,000 on streets and 11 dead

Yellow Vest: Shock stats reveal depth of Macron chaos - 50,000 on streets and 11 dead

FRENCH Interior Minister Christophe Castaner on Sunday said that 11 people had lost their lives during the country’s sometimes violent yellow vest crisis, as he unveiled the grim consequences of more than six months of social unrest.

the Express,
17 March, 2017

The protest movement began more than six months ago as a peaceful backlash against rising fuel and living costs, but quickly spiralled into a sometimes violent anti-Macron rebellion.

In an interview with the conservative weekly Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), the security chief confirmed that a total of 11 deaths had been linked to the anti-government protests, adding that most had been the result of road accidents caused by roadblocks.

Mr Castaner said that 2,500 yellow vests had been injured since the protest movement began in November last year, including 76 seriously.

Some 1,800 members of the security forces also sustained injuries, he added.  

He also said that 50,000 protests had been held since the start of the movement.

The yellow vest protests, so-called because of the fluorescent safety jackets all French drivers have to keep in their cars, began late last year over spiralling fuel and living costs.

But the movement tapped into much deeper frustrations among the struggling working class, and quickly morphed into a wider rebellion against President Emmanuel Macron’s elitist government and pro-business economic policies.

On some occasions, mostly in Paris, the weekly protests have sparked violent clashes between yellow vests and riot police, with both sides accusing the other of abuses.

There has been huge controversy over the rough tactics used by police to restore calm during the protests, namely the use of non-lethal rubber bullets and sting-ball grenades.

Yellow vests say the use of such devices has put demonstrators in unnecessary danger and caused serious injuries. Activists say that 23 protesters have lost the use of an eye, five have lost a hand and one a testicle.

The protest movement began more than six months ago as a peaceful backlash against rising fuel and living costs, but quickly spiralled into a sometimes violent anti-Macron rebellion.

In an interview with the conservative weekly Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), the security chief confirmed that a total of 11 deaths had been linked to the anti-government protests, adding that most had been the result of road accidents caused by roadblocks.

Mr Castaner said that 2,500 yellow vests had been injured since the protest movement began in November last year, including 76 seriously.

Some 1,800 members of the security forces also sustained injuries, he added.  

He also said that 50,000 protests had been held since the start of the movement.

The yellow vest protests, so-called because of the fluorescent safety jackets all French drivers have to keep in their cars, began late last year over spiralling fuel and living costs.

But the movement tapped into much deeper frustrations among the struggling working class, and quickly morphed into a wider rebellion against President Emmanuel Macron’s elitist government and pro-business economic policies.

On some occasions, mostly in Paris, the weekly protests have sparked violent clashes between yellow vests and riot police, with both sides accusing the other of abuses.

There has been huge controversy over the rough tactics used by police to restore calm during the protests, namely the use of non-lethal rubber bullets and sting-ball grenades.

Yellow vests say the use of such devices has put demonstrators in unnecessary danger and caused serious injuries. Activists say that 23 protesters have lost the use of an eye, five have lost a hand and one a testicle.

But the protest movement, now in its 32nd consecutive week, has all but fizzled out.

Only 7,000 yellow vests took to the streets of France on Saturday and only 950 in Paris.

The numbers are a far cry from the ones recorded at the height of the crisis, when some 250,000 people took part in anti-government rallies nationwide.

On Monday, Mr Castaner defended the way riot police have handled the unrest as he launched a review of police methods in an effort to develop new ideas for managing violent demonstrations.

“I want to hear what you think about the use of force, about the arms we use and what some call ‘police violence,’” he told a panel of 15 experts cherry-picked to review police tactics.

Mr Castaner, a member of Mr Macron’s inner circle who has taken a tough stance on protest violence, said he did not want police to revert to soft tactics.

“We are not going to respond to Molotov cocktails with nice feelings and we are not going to protect the order of the Republic with soft words,” he said.

The social crisis put a dent in Mr Macron’s authority and forced him to offer a package of expensive concessions worth more than 10 billion euros (£8.9 billion) aimed at boosting the incomes of the poorest workers and pensioners.

But now that support for the movement has waned, Mr Macron is determined to roll out “Act II” of his reform drive, which will include a radical overhaul of France’s complex pensions and unemployment benefits systems.

Both systems are explosive issues that may reignite popular rage, even if the yellow vest revolt has lost momentum.


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