The left puts more pressure on Macron in a France steeped in unrest
Paris, Oct 16 (EFE) .- In a France impregnated with social and economic unrest, the French left today summoned tens of thousands of protesters in a march held in Paris to put more pressure on the Government of Emmanuel Macron, who faces an upcoming tense week. Organized by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Insumisa (LFI) and supported by the rest of the left-wing forces and by personalities such as the new Nobel Prize winner for Literature Annie Érnaux, the Parisian demonstration is the product of growing French discontent. The shortage of fuel in various parts of the country due to the strike at the refineries; the erosion of purchasing power due to high inflation; and a probable approval of the Government Budget plan for 2023 without debate, on the fast track, have clouded the country’s climate. And in two days it will be the turn of the unions, who foresee an “interprofessional mobilization” on Tuesday the 18th, when several key sectors could be paralyzed. The figures on the number of protesters this Sunday differ. The organizers estimated 140,000, while the authorities lowered it to 30,000. “The undeniable success of this march gives us courage and this shock will have an impact on the institutions,” said Mélenchon, who saw Macron “panting” and in serious trouble to continue governing. Heavily criticized in recent weeks for his lenient attitude towards a case of domestic violence committed by his former number two in LFI, the leftist leader had called this march against the cost of living and climate change, but the possible dissolution of the Assembly became one of the main themes. The Macron Executive, without an absolute majority in Parliament, could suffer a motion of censure by the opposition if it fast-tracks the budget plan for 2023 through article 49.3 of the Constitution. Mélenchon and the far-right Marine Le Pen, who represent the two main opposition forces, have announced that they will present motions against the Government in case it uses 49.3. “I don’t think that (the Assembly) will be dissolved with this march, but it can contribute to advancing a stage, and it is also important that we all demonstrate again, even if we have different opinions,” retired professor Jean-Marc told EFE , while brandishing a banner against retirement at age 67. Solange, a retiree who came to Paris from the Drome (southern France), was brandishing, for her part, an inscription against the French oil company TotalEnergies, the target of the anger of many protesters for the enormous profits they have had from the rise of the price of oil during the war in Ukraine. “I am very happy that the Total strikers continue to mobilize, so they make themselves heard by the bosses and the Government,” said Solange, referring to the strikes organized since September 27 by the CGT union in several refineries to demand a salary increase. and that have left many gas stations without fuel. In any case, one of the most consensual demands among the demonstrators who marched from Place de la Nation to Place de la Bastille was that a special tax be applied to companies that have had disproportionate profits during the war, something that which is opposed, for the time being, by the Government. “A EUROPEAN PROBLEM” Among the demonstrators, there were those from outside France, such as the deputy from the Belgian region of Wallonia John Beugnies, of the Labor Party (PTB). “This is not a Belgian or French problem, it is a European problem. It is important to have come here so that this movement is amplified and those from above listen to us and do not leave us just the crumbs,” he told EFE. At the demonstration, considered high risk, there were about 2,000 troops, including gendarmes and police, concerned above all by the presence of a few hundred ultra-left movements, such as the “Anti-Fascist Action” and the Yellow Vests. Antonio Torres del Cerro (c) Agencia EFE
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