Strike of November 5: “In this country that we thought was a little sluggish, the youth woke us up,” said Léa Balage El Mariky, Ecologist and Social MP

This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the duel above. Click on the video to watch it in full. Perrine Storme: We will return to this day of mobilization at the call of the inter-union, with the figures communicated this evening by the CGT: 350,000 people in the streets in Paris and 1,600,000 people according to the CGT throughout France, and according to Beauvau, a provisional figure of 600,000 demonstrators.

Léa Balage El Mariky, how would you describe this day? Léa Balage El Mariky: It’s a sign of hope. More than a million people, 1,600,000 people, who are moving according to the CGT, to carry their demands, their anger, but together, by bringing together the demands of high school students, and of employees, who can no longer take it... We also talk about the power to live, of executives who are diminishing, that of civil servants which has fallen by almost 20% in 10 years.

In short, everyone has reasons to be angry, and at the same time, there is hope because in this country that we thought was a little sluggish, young people have awakened us, perhaps brought this hope to the surface. Was she the one who launched this social movement? I believe that it woke us up, all of us: political leaders, activists, trade unionists, and that it told us where to go.

Were you asleep among the environmentalists? No, not asleep, but perhaps sometimes resigned, telling ourselves that there was an anger that we felt brewing, but that we were not able to come together. When I see the tremendous momentum of high school students that has built up, when I see the way in which these high school students have inspired us...Are you surprised by this mobilization?

No surprise, I'm excited. I experienced a demonstration, I loved it, I sang, I danced alongside the demonstrators. It was a real moment of joy and that's why when anger is also expressed in this ability to be able to do together, it means that we will be able to do great things, and that this deadline that we announced was very dark, that of the presidential election, I believe that there is hope in our country that we can win.

Jad Zahab, were you too, for your part, surprised by the scale of this mobilization today? Jad Zahab: Yes and no. In fact, I take it more as a warning cry.

The fact that today, in France, you have people...Does that worry you more? No, it is the social situation that should alert us. I see it as a call to politicians to be responsible.

And I represent a political family which has nothing to do with the last 10 years, therefore also an ability to question itself and to see that today, in our country, you have people who demonstrate... Is he questioning himself, Gabriel Attal? Of course he questions himself and I'll explain how. But if you like, what should alert us is that we have people demonstrating in the streets, who are not asking to be helped, who are asking to live with dignity from their work.

Machine-translated from French