France's 'yellow vests' to field candidates in European elections
Following two months of nationwide protests as a loosely formed movement communicating mostly on social media, the so-called 'yellow vests', made up of low- and middle-income earners angry at falling living standards and against the political and social elite, have formed a group to field candidates for this spring's elections for the European Parliament.
FranceFrance’s anti-government “yellow vest” protesters are to put forward a list of candidates to run in upcoming European Parliament elections, reports Reuters.
The protests, named after high-visibility vests French drivers are required to keep in their cars, started out in mid November against fuel tax hikes that have since been scrapped.
They quickly spiraled into a broader movement against the political elite and inequality, triggering some of the capital’s worst street violence in decades.
“The citizen movement ... has shown the need to transform the anger into a political project capable of giving answers to the French people who have supported it,” the loosely grouped movement said in a statement.
The movement, which so far has been loosely organized without a leadership structure, could take 13 percent of the vote in May, according to a Elabe poll on Wednesday for BFM TV.
