Several hundred people gathered this Saturday, September 7 in Limoges, in the wake of LFI’s national call for the dismissal of Emmanuel Macron. While the approach has little chance of succeeding through parliamentary channels, the street seems to want to express itself, despite differences of method on the left.
The observation is clear, unanimous: Emmanuel Macron did not meet the expectations of the majority of voters and did not respect the result of the ballot boxes. For the rest, it is a question of method, and that advocated by LFI seems to have met with a measured echo this Saturday, September 7 in Limoges. Far from the crowds of the big days – it is true that the weather was hardly favorable -, several hundred people
marched through the city streets early in the afternoon.
“They will eventually join us”
“You voted? And now, are you satisfied? No? So Macron resign, Macron impeachment!” The slogans resonated especially in Place de la Motte, where the demonstrators made a long stop to applaud in particular the two rebellious deputies from Haut-Viennois, Damien Maudet and Manon Meunier. A few Génération.s flags, a few PCF badges, but notable absences, such as that of the Socialist Party or the CGT.
“It doesn’t matter, they will end up joining us when they see that the only way to put an end to this democratic denial is through the streets,” remarks Christophe, a railway worker from Limoges, close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s movement and a regular at demonstrations. premium
More than 150 protests in France against Macron’s “coup de force”
Misunderstanding and anger
Beyond purely political concerns, it was a feeling of incomprehension mixed with anger that floated through the city’s streets this Saturday. “LR only got 8%, and it’s still LR that governs. How does France look on the international stage?”, fumes young Louis, who came to express his resentment with some student friends. When asked: “How did we get to this point?”, the small group was unanimous: “It’s too easy to blame the Insoumis because they didn’t want Cazeneuve! For us, he represents the soft left. And in any case, Macron didn’t want him either.”
Photo by Franck Jacquet
Towards a social movement?
Withdrawal of the pension reform, minimum wage at 1,600 euros… So many programmatic elements that now seem to have been downgraded to the rank of mere pious wishes capable of fueling deep bitterness. Enough to transform the political protest into a vast social movement in the fall, as Emmanuel hopes? “I naively believed that Lucie Castets would be appointed to Matignon, I didn’t see how Macron could do otherwise,” explains this specialized educator who now fears that the RN will rush into the breach of a faltering democracy. “We are reaching the limits of the Fifth Republic, and perhaps the limits of our democratic system that we have boasted about so much for decades. It is extremely worrying.”
“Mixing genres”
A little to the side, Anne, a school teacher, is getting ready with her friend to leave the demonstration earlier than planned. The large Gaza banner unfurled in front of the market halls, the placards hostile to Israel and the keffiyehs seen in the ranks of the demonstrators do not seem appropriate to them. “It’s a bit like what we feared,” regrets the teacher. The war in the Middle East is absolutely dramatic, but this mixture of genres can only harm both causes: that of the Palestinian people on the one hand, and on the other hand that of the left and our freedoms, here in France. It is perhaps also because of this that there is not the crowd that we were hoping for today.”
600 according to the police, more than a thousand according to LFI.Florence Clavaud-Parant