France Strikes and Demonstrations Shakes Macron Government
Widespread protests and
marches across France rocked the
Macron government during second
half of November this year. On
November 17, more than 2 lakh
people participated in protest
marches and blockaded 2034
points and go-slow operations
across France. The protesters
included workers, transport drivers
and small businessmen. They are
protesting against the so-called
austerity programme – hike in fuel
tax, cuts in pensions, tax increases
on working people and slashing of
tax on wealth of millionaires.
One protester told BFM TV,
“the fuel tax was the feather that
broke the camel’s back, but it goes
far beyond that. We are tired of
being led by private interests. We
would like to return to democracy.
Wage increases, cuts in taxes paid
by the working people, the right to
cast blank votes and to decide on
all important laws via referendum.
The people must take back political
power”.
Similar protests are going on
across the Europe. In Belgium,
protesters are blockading oil
refineries, while protests against
fuel tax hikes have came up in
Bulgaria and Serbia. The working
people are in fiery strikes against
in Greece. There was strike in the
metro rail in Bucharest and Amazon
Ryanair strikes in Germany.
The protests in France conti-
nued despite police crackdown;
183 persons were in preventive
detention. France’s Interior minister
said that “police authorities are
ordered to liberate fuel depots and
other sensitive sites, and the
protesters would be thrown out
systematically and methodically”.
While the fuel tax protesters
continued to demonstrate through
the week, thousands of high school
students blocked school buildings
December - 2018
in opposition to the government’s
university reforms and in support
of protests to fuel tax hike. They
blocked around 50 buildings. Louis
Broyard, the president of the
National High School Students
Union said, “It’s not a very Parisian
demonstration; it is a revolt in the
provinces and rural areas of the
high schools abandoned by the
politics of Macron. The schools
which were blocked today are not
those which typically mobilized for
this type of demonstration”.
At the same time, in France
numerous strikes took place or
were going on in public transport
in Lyon and Mans, by municipal
employees in Marseille, refinery
workers in La Mede. At the nuclear
plant in Flamanville, smelters in
Poitou and many hospitals.
Amid these protests and strikes,
the French government announced
the imposition of universal military
service which was suspended in
1997. A paper on this compulsory
draft into military was published by
Le Parisien stated, “every year
around 800,000 boys and girls of
the sane age will be called up for a
three month military service and
then possible recruitment into the
armed services”. The reason put
forward – the draft would allow for
“mixing social classes on the basis
of values of our Republic”. Many
academics contested this claim and
said, “social n\mixing gradually
ceased and in 1997 you only had
young men from poorest social
classes in the land army’s combat
units”.
But the real intentions of
Macron government are conce-
aled. Macron during the
presidential election campaign in
2017 pleaded to bring back the
draft and said, “We have entered
an epoch in international relations
where war is again a possible
outcome of politics”.
While mass protests are going
on Macron went to Berlin and held
talks with German chancellor on
the security of Europe. He called
for “stronger and more sovereign
Europe” that would not “become
the plaything of other powers”.
Referring to Franco-German
collaboration on a European army,
he declared “The new Franco-
German responsibility consists of
giving Europe the tool it needs to
reach sovereignty”.
In 2017, Sweden re-established
the compulsory draft into military
with “Russian annexation of
Crimea, the conflict in Ukraine, the
increased military activities in our
neighborhood” as a pretext. The
German authorities announced that
they were also considering re-
instatemewnt of the draft.
The return back to universal
military service indicates the
growing crisis and sharpening
contradictions among the imperia-
list powers. It also indicates the
building of infrastructure as a part
of preparations to war. It is also
aimed at disciplining and diverting
the younger generation, which is
seething with discontent and anger
against prevailing capitalist system
as is evident in the recent protests,
by invoking national chauvinism
and by creating regressive political
atmosphere.
Read!
Subscribe!
Class Struggle
Contribution: Single Copy- Rs. 15/-
Yearly - Rs. 150/-
For Details:
P.Jaswantha Rao
Editor
32-13-26/1, M.R.Puram,
Vijayawada, pin-520 010.
7