The street protests movement in France,known as the “yellow vests”, that started last November, is waning. Recent polls have fixed a turning point in public opinion: the French are tired of passions of protests and prefer to continue the debate and dialogue in the political space. In turn, President Emmanuel Macron, who appeared in the new role of an attentive interlocutor of the nation, scores points.
According to a survey published today by the public opinion research institute Odoxa Dentsu-Consulting, more than half (55%) of the French want the demonstration of the “yellow vests” to stop as soon as possible. This is a major shift in the public consciousness. In November last year, 66% of French people were on the side of the “vests”.
Left-wing socialists, right-wing “Republicans” and, of course, centrists from the pro-presidential “Forward, Republic!” are against street protests.
The protesters lost the social support as well. If earlier there were workers, unemployed, peasants, and small entrepreneurs in their lines, nowadays only those who have nothing to lose, mostly representatives of the poorest strata, come out to protest in the “yellow vests”.
The “vests” themselves, through their actions, prepared this fracture of public opinion. If at the beginning of the movement, sympathies were on their side, then over time they showed themselves to be anti-Semites, homophobes, racists, vandals, and simply murderers, since as a result of their actions several thousand people were injured and 11 killed. Moreover, these people lost their lives due to the actions of “vests”.
President Macron has kept the pause and turned to use the new scheme to speak to the people. He is an attentive interlocutor, taking into consideration personal opinions and advises of French people. As the result, his ratings and popularity grown up, even not drastically, but still 32 % in February against 27 % in January 2019.
