Under the cobblestones, the confetti… This Thursday morning, between the bleachers of Place Masséna, the Nice demonstrators against the pension reform walked in the footsteps of the corsos of the day before. No doubt, the carnival is in the city (until February 26) and also a little inside the procession, where we played “paillassou”. And this puppet tossed in the air, as high as possible as this tradition of the event made in Nice wants, was, for the occasion, in the image of Emmanuel Macron.
Around the white sheet which is already not so much anymore, Thomas Ghestem is sweating profusely. To send the President of the Republic as high as possible, you have to shoot with all your strength, with several people, simultaneously. “It’s physical,” breathes this activist from La France insoumise (LFI).
In 2018, it was he who created this puppet, “a caricature” of the President of the Republic. “It was at the time of the Fête à Macron. François Ruffin was looking for something to bring people together, with a connection to the culture of Nice. A communist activist suggested the idea of the mat to us. »
“A straw man who represents the problems”
He continues: “I found a costume at Secours Populaire, an old foam mattress that I picked up. I took one of my shirts. And I started. A mask purchased from a prank and prank site completed the look. Since then, the poor puppet has been tossed about at almost every demonstration that questions the policy of the Head of State.
“Carnival, historically, is a time of role reversal. We make fun of the powerful and it is the people who occupy the ground. And the mat is a straw man who represents the problems that we try to send as far as possible, recalls Thomas Ghestem. Symbolically, for us, Macron is the straw man of financial capitalism, he is the investment banker at the service of a class, of a system. That’s what we send for a ride. »
And everyone gets into it. Even Rayane, 10 years old. He takes a place left vacant around the sheet. “It’s super funny,” laughs the little boy. A announcer encourages him and the other “launchers”: “Go! Even higher! We are going to blow up Macron and his reform. The disarticulated silhouette flies away. Between two buildings, the sun piercing through the clouds illuminates it on a background a little more gray than azure this Wednesday.
“He’s in my guest room”
Elodie, a researcher, has just passed the baton: “It’s exhausting, but the symbolism is nice. It means what it means. The retirement at 64 wanted by Macron, we don’t want it. “And to joke:” I pity the one who has to keep this puppet in his closet. Thomas Ghestem got used to it. “He’s in my guest room even though it isn’t.” Cohabitation, we do with it, laughs the 47-year-old school teacher. We pay our taxes. He is a French citizen, we welcome him. »
A little over an hour later, the procession disperses and some may have aches in their arms for the next few days. Until the next meeting against the reform. That of this Thursday gathered between 2,000 people according to the police and 15,000, according to the unions. School holidays in zone B have probably passed by. This is much less than February 11: 5,650 to 25,000 demonstrators had been counted.