“This can’t go down well, we can’t stay on our sofa!”: strong turnout in Montpellier for the anti-Macron demonstration

Au pied de la préfecture, une place des Martyrs-de-la-Résistance bien trop petite. Midi Libre – T. J.

5 400 personnes (selon la préfecture) ont manifesté ce samedi, en fin de journée, au cœur de Montpellier.

La manifestation contre Emmanuel Macron fait le plein ce samedi 18h à #Montpellier, au pied de la préfecture pic.twitter.com/ujcBxmnW5A

— Midi Libre Montpellier (@MLMontpellier) September 7, 2024

“During the election, it woke me up every morning. It's just not possible. For the first time, I took part in a militant action, I went to hand out leaflets for LFI."

In the early evening, the demonstrators lingered for a long time on the Place de la Comédie. Midi Libre – T. J.

Like Eric and Violaine, there are several thousand of them (5,400 according to the prefecture) who mobilized this Saturday from 6 p.m. This couple, politics, they still believe in it but accuse Macron of playing the RN's game. So they came, “so that the street can put pressure on. We can't stay on our sofa, it can go down well.”

Clotilde : “By taking us for fools…”

Clotilde is the same for life. She sighs: “By taking us for fools…” She rather mentions the ecological aspect. “I am an ecologist at heart. What planet will we leave to our children ? The new Prime Minister is not going to reassure me on that.”

Séréna and Samuel wrote their disagreements on their signs. Midi Libre – T. J.

Pension reform, Palestine and many others, they all know why they are here. Samuel and Séréna wrote it on their placards. “The government will continue to go along with the bosses, with the reduction in public service finances. I would like it to go along with the people.” For Séréna, the denial of democracy is obvious:“I can't accept it. The vote went mostly to the left. The Prime Minister is not part of it…"

Why are these protesters here ? It's clear, isn't it ? Midi Libre – T. J.

Left from the Place de la Préfecture, which is much too small with these construction site barricades, the long procession then went down to Place de la Comédie. Politicians were also present. Including of course representatives of the NFP: MPs Sylvain Carrière and Jean-Louis Roumégas, and Alenka Doulain. “People feel like the elections were stolen from them”, underlines Jean-Louis Roumégas, who highlights “Macron's game of deception, the lies. On the political level, what is happening is serious, it goes in the direction of a rejection of politics, of institutions."

Des milliers de personnes manifestent à Montpellier avec notamment des slogans bien connus pic.twitter.com/0tvknbvEUj

— Midi Libre Montpellier (@MLMontpellier) September 7, 2024