Title: Why are the ‘yellow vests’ protesting in France? | Emmanuel Macron | Al Jazeera
Headings: Why are the ‘yellow vests’ protesting in France?
OPINION
Why are the ‘yellow vests’ protesting in France?
Misleading the electorate
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Macron’s disdain for the poor
The protests are not rejecting climate change action

Content: Misleading the electorate
40-year-old Macron was elected last year on pledges to change the face of French politics, create more jobs and improve lives. On the eve of the 2017 presidential election, French voters were tired of career politicians. They wanted a different kind of leader, someone who can understand their long-rooted social and economic concerns and deliver real, practical solutions. For the past four decades, French people have been worried about the erosion of social protections in their country. Since Francois Mitterrand’s socialist government controversially decided to impose austerity policies in 1983, successive governments have taken slow but consistent steps to dismantle the French welfare state. All this gradually accentuated the economic concerns of the French middle and working classes and led them to be more and more suspicious of all mainstream politicians on the right and the left. They came to believe that the political elite protects the interests of the wealthy and does not care about the wellbeing of ordinary citizens. Successfully diagnosing the public’s frustration with the political class, Macron worked hard to differentiate himself from the establishment in Paris and act as the representative of a “new world order” throughout his election campaign. He had the youth, the energy, the positive message. He was the leader of a brand-new political party, aligned neither with the right nor the left.