The fuel crisis that has hit France for the past fortnight has reinvigorated the opposition. On the right as on the left of the political spectrum, an executive judged responsible for the gasoline shortages is shouted down. After a return to school tainted by the Bayou and Quatennens affairs, the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) seized the opportunity to finally speak out about its social struggles. Although millions of French people are deprived of gasoline, the left-wing parties are in unison defending the refinery strikers.
The announcement of requisitions of employees in the depots of fuel of the Esso-Exxonmobil group, by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, Tuesday, October 11, was thus interpreted as an attack on the strike, a ” constitutional right “thunders the deputy La France insoumise (LFI) of Bouches-du-Rhône Manuel Bompard. “It is therefore the shield for the oil superprofits and the club for the strikers”denounced the LFI deputies in a press release. “Is the strike really the cause of all this? It is also problems of logistics, supply, the drop in the Total discount on October 31 [qui conduit des usagers à faire des stocks] »abounds the “rebellious” deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Bastien Lachaud.
In addition to the executive, the TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil groups are seen as responsible for the current situation. “The government should have encouraged Total to sit around the table when the company paid its dividends and increased the CEO’s salary by 52%”, castigates the president of the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts group in the National Assembly, Cyrielle Chatelain. Faced with the requisitions, only the Socialist Party is more measured, judging them justified if they are “targeted on essential services (hospitals, firefighters, etc.)”explains Calvados deputy Arthur Delaporte.
Roussel lined up
Paradoxically, the fuel crisis also helps to calm the tensions that reign in the left alliance. While since the start of the school year, he has been playing it solo, Fabien Roussel has for once shown himself aligned with the positions of his comrades at LFI. “To unblock the situation at Total and Esso, it is not the employees who must be requisitioned, but the bosses so that they increase wages”judged the leader of the communists, asking for an indexation of wages on inflation.
The discontent in the refineries gives Nupes arguments to fight its battle on superprofits. “If the government does not manage to weigh in the balance of power, it only has to threaten Total to take up our amendments on the taxation of superprofits”, suggests Manuel Bompard. To impose a national tax on companies making these superprofits, the Nupes has launched a shared initiative referendum (RIP), which, if validated by the Constitutional Council, will have to receive the approval of 4.8 million citizens. As such, the left could take advantage of the anger of individuals to gather a sufficiently large audience.
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