“Yellow vests” are so popular that it seems that anyone wearing it will be elected. But gathering sympathy is one thing, dealing with upset voters another.
13% of the votes: that’s what a “yellow vest” list could gather for the European elections in France if elections are held today, according to a poll by Elabe for BFM-TV.
This is a better score compared to what the right wing party Les Républicains could hope for. So it’s no surprise that a group of people decided to launch a yellow vest list, something the Macron’s team has been hoping for a while. Ingrid Lavavasseur, a nurse, has been promoted as one of the moderate members of the Gilets jaunes.
According to the poll, the list would steal votes to the National Rally and from the extreme left, but not to Macron’s LREM, which has been gaining steam according to the same poll.
The launch of the list led by Ingrid Lavavasseur has quickly been denounced by other so-called leaders from Yellow vest, like Eric Drouet or Maxime Nicolle, two individuals who are to be close to National Front, according to an investigation by Fondation Jean Jaurès.
“If you vote Yellow vest, you vote Macron” has written Eric Drouet on a FaceBook group called “La France en colère” gathering around 80,000 people.
The Yellow Vest are strongly divided around this move, and Ingrid Lavavasseur has been badly attacked and called a traitor on social networks already. One of the candidates on her list had tried to be a MP for Macron’s party LREM, opponents denounced.
Other political forces have until now refrained to comment on their new challenger. The bottom line is that by fighting against high taxes and low incomes, the “yellow vest” have the sympathy of a majority of French people. Will they be able to capitalize this support until the end of may by convincing voters with new ideas ? This is a completely different question.
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Excellente analyse, le débat hier soir sur la 2 en est la caricature, les gilets jaunes ont également leurs extrémistes de gauche et de droite qui détruisent tout débat.