PARIS: On a midwinter evening in northern France, a group of people gathered in a local hall with the air of barely suppressed excitement of those about to witness a momentous event.
The 30-odd residents from the small town of Saint-Sebastien-de-Morsent were rallying to a call by President Emmanuel Macron to take part in a “great national debate”, a key component of his fightback after two months of often violent “yellow vest” anti-government protests.
Deputy mayor Florence Haguet-Volckaert urged the participants — most of them pensioners — to speak freely on four themes Macron has put up for debate: taxation and public spending; democracy and citizenship; the functioning of government and public services; the environment.
“We’re here to listen to you,” she assured as councillors sat, pens poised, to note complaints that will be forwarded to Macron as part of a two-month democratic experiment.
Across France, dozens of town hall-style debates are planned as Macron attempts to defuse yellow vest anger over inequality and his perceived indifference to the struggles of rural and small-town France. Every week since mid-November, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest high taxes, low spending power and what they see as the 41-year-old’s arrogance. Though their numbers have ebbed, some 69,000 turned out across France again on Saturday, with more clashes between police and the 4,000 demonstrators in Paris.
The worst social unrest in France since the May 1968 student uprising forced Macron to back down on some of his reforms in December, leaving him weakened.
The “great debate” launched last week marks a return to the kind of grassroots politics that Macron championed during his presidential campaign, but promptly ditched after taking office.
“This is a big evolution in French life. Usually we elect MPs and no longer get to ask questions,” Didier Grimoin, a retired building engineer, enthusiastically said as he scurried from the “tax” to the “citizenship” table. — AFP
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