“
I mobilized in July against the health pass. I continue because I find that there are too many injustices. We can no longer afford anything. Gasoline, gas ... Everything is increasing.
"Ursula, a bank employee, shares with the"
yellow vests
"present in the Parisian procession this Saturday the same concern about the evolution of her purchasing power. Because in recent weeks, energy prices have jumped. Electricity, gas and fuel are concerned. The price of diesel reached, in the first week of October, a record of 1.5354 euros per liter on average. The liter of Unleaded 98, for its part, reached a level of 1.6332 euros per liter. Either a level comparable to that which had pushed the "
yellow vests
To take the roundabouts in the fall of 2018.
Read alsoHigher fuel prices: "yellow vests" are trying to revive the mobilization
Health pass and purchasing power
"
Everything is more expensive
", confirm Nadia, Sam and Dorine, in their forties, who have come to protest against this increase which concerns "
fuel, but also pasta, vegetables, milk
", considers Dorine. The three friends, met on the Place de la Bastille, the starting point of the procession, have the feeling that they are gradually giving up more and more products in the supermarket. The same goes for leisure, especially since, like all the people interviewed by
Le Figaro
in the procession, they are not vaccinated. They have given up on acquiring a health pass since the tests (PCR and antigens) became payable this Friday.
The refusal of the vaccine is often based on a persistent distrust of the government. Charles, 17 and YouTuber since leaving school, has given up bars, restaurants and the cinema. “
I have the impression that we created a kind of privilege: if you are vaccinated, everything is fine. If you're not, the message is: fuck yourself
”. Jean-Claude, 60, will leave his post in logistics in two months to retire. He has on his shoulders the yellow vest he has been wearing since the beginning of the movement and on which he registers all his participations in the now traditional Saturday demonstrations. Not vaccinated either, he admits: "
it's probably irrational, but I might have had a different position if it wasn'twas not Macron who had proposed the vaccine
".
Read alsoSkeptics, caregivers, former "yellow vests": how resistance to the health pass is organized
Rise in energy prices, distrust of the authorities: the ingredients seemed to be in place for a comeback of the “
yellow vests
” demonstrators
this weekend.
However, in the Parisian procession, some admit a hint of disappointment in the face of a weaker mobilization than that observed in the heart of summer against the health pass.
Jean-Claude regrets that, since 2018, the “
yellow vests
” have spoken “
of things of which they should not have spoken
” to remain united, namely their political differences.
"
The government has reinforced these divisions because we are feared,
" he says.
In the procession, the cries of sheep were occasionally mimicked with regard to the police, mobilized in numbers. The demonstration, which took place without clashes, counted during its participants Jérôme Rodrigues, pivotal figure of the movement. He admits that the movement has blown away over the past three years. But that means that he swarms, hopes the “
yellow vest
”. "
Now we have unions 'yellow vests' in some companies like Amazon
"
,
he explains
.
"
We also have a presidential candidate, with a program
." Three people, in total, want to stand for election with a “
yellow vest
” label
.
Shy mobilization on roundabouts
The difficulty in mobilizing has not escaped the "
yellow vests
" of other French cities.
According to AFP, the gatherings on the roundabouts have brought together small groups ranging from about twenty people in Toulouse, on the emblematic roundabout of the "
Socamil
", to about fifty on a roundabout in Villeurbanne.
In the comments of Facebook groups dedicated to the movement, some do not hide their disappointment.
"
At home, I can not find anyone while my city is only a succession of roundabouts
", Nicole laments on the group "
Yellow vests we continue
".
"
It's all well and good, a lot of demonstrations of support [on this group] but I don't see a lot of yellow vests. Few people want to return to the roundabouts where nothing is being done,
”even denies Nathalie on the same Facebook page.
"
We are no longer facing a movement that holds roundabouts everywhere in France
", analyzes Tristan Guerra, researcher at Sciences Po Grenoble and at the Pacte-CNRS laboratory. “
From now on, it is more a question of a mobilization which tries to relaunch itself, which aggregates anger that is sometimes very different, and which is in great difficulty
”. In question, in particular: the calendar. While the presidential election looms next May, some "
yellow vests
" may be tempted to refrain from demonstrating to express themselves at the polls, believes the researcher. "
In 2018, the context was different: we were in a period of the electoral cycle where some were experiencing the disappointment associated with the start of the five-year term and had lost confidence.
From now on, we are observing the remnants of the movement,
”said Tristan Guerra.
The movement of "
yellow vests
" also suffers from its refusal of any verticality which has prevented it from being structured.
Read also On December 4, 2018, Emmanuel Macron was targeted by "
yellow vests
"
Despite everything, the most famous figures of the movement call for continued mobilization: Jacline Mouraud, Ingrid Levavasseur, Maxime Nicolle and Jérôme Rodrigues have indicated that they would participate in future gatherings.
Tristan Guerra warns: “
the evolution of the movement is difficult to predict.
In spite of its brakes, it could be enough of a spark, of a new rise in prices, to relaunch it, because the 'yellow vests' manage very constrained budgets on a daily basis
”.
