It is an agitation which could betray a concern. In recent days, the supporters of Nupes – and mainly those of insubordinate France – are active. With the hashtag #tufaisquoile16, 3.5 million leaflets distributed, 450,000 posters posted, and 81 chartered buses, they are trying to bring as many people as possible back to the march “against high cost of living and climate inaction. “, organized in Paris this Sunday, October 16.
If the subjects advocated are in tune with the times, the march is divided as to its real project. Attempt at political recovery of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as denounced by the unions, desire to make “the buzz for the buzz”, as Yannick Jadot believes, or the need to fight “against the unlimited exploitation of work and living “, as thought by personalities from the world of arts and letters in a column published on Sunday October 9 in the JDD ? L’Express takes stock of the various positions on the eve of the rally.
- What is the purpose of this march?
Wednesday, on RTL, the rebellious deputy Alexis Corbière estimated that “the conditions were met for many of us”, while fearing, ambivalently, the fear of making a flop. The title of the march seems, in fact, to be able to bring the crowds together, as concerns about inflation and global warming are shared. According to a CSA study for the JDDpublished in September, purchasing power worries 48% of French people, while the environment concerns 27%.
The will displayed is “to exert pressure on the government”, in the words of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, by demanding in particular an increase in wages and social minima, the cancellation of the unemployment insurance reform, the blocking prices for energy and basic necessities, the freezing of rents or even the taxation of superprofits. Slogans that have everything of a hidden political meeting.
- Who is participating in this event?
As organizers, the member parties of Nupes, namely those of France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS) and Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV), will of course be present, as will the French Communist Party (PCF) and other left formations such as Ensemble!, Nouvelle Donne or Place Publique. Also, many personalities from the world of arts and letters have announced, in a forum at the JDD, their involvement. The Nobel Prize in literature, Annie Ernaux, writers Laurent Binet, Pierre Lemaître and Éric Vuillard; actors Yvan Le Bolloc’h and Éva Darlan; the filmmaker Gérard Mordillat or the historian Florence Gauthier will be present in order, as they write, “not to let the heirs of Madame Thatcher destroy hope and liquidate our social rights.”
It should also be noted the presence of thirteen youth organizations from political parties, such as Campus Nouvelle Donne, Jeunes du POI and NPA Jeunes 75, 700 union activists – although no union organization has announced its support – and finally 25 associations, including Attac and the Solidarity March.
If many left-wing parties participate in the march, several high-ranking personalities who come from it will not move. This is the case of the communist Fabien Roussel or the ecologist Yannick Jadot. The latter sees in this rally “a brutalization of public debate, of Twitter politics, which, in the end, will only serve the far right”. The former presidential candidate believes that “the priority must be to build the social movement with the unions”, too often set aside during “work on the texts of law”.
Precisely, the unions, well occupied by the current strike movements in the refineries and by the organization of those to come next week in various professional categories, will not send representatives on Sunday. This Thursday, October 13, on France Inter, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, justified this withdrawal by the “desire not to be recoverable by anyone”. That of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, claimed him, “more offensive actions”.