Yellow Vests protesters will demonstrate for a 13th consecutive weekend on Saturday, with multiple rallies planned throughout France. But the latest protests are increasingly plagued by internal quarrels over how to secure more political gains. The Yellow Vest movement is becoming increasingly divided and fractured, with supporters disagreeing on both the means to and the political end game. Some are willing to ally with trade unions to exact more government concessions; others continue to mistrust them. Most want to continue ratcheting up the pressure, even demanding the resignation of French President Emmanuel Macron. But the number of protesters has fallen over the last two Saturdays. An estimated 58,600 people demonstrated throughout France on Feb. 2, according to the interior ministry, although the Yellow Vests claim some 116,000 demonstrators took to the streets. A demonstration is scheduled to start Saturday morning at Place de l'Etoile while three additional rallies have also been announced by Eric Drouet, a truck driver and spokesman of the Gilets Jaunes movement. Various events are also planned in other cities, including Montpellier, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Brest, Caen and Lorient. "There is a lot of tension, a lot of ill intentions, a lot of impatience," Drouet said in a live video on Wednesday. He explained that he was working on a "completely legal" strategy to force Macron to resign. And some of these tensions have boiled over into the diplomatic sphere. Luigi Di Maio, leader of Italy's Five-Star Movement and deputy prime minister, caused a major rift with France on Tuesday when he met members of the Yellow Vests to show his support. — Agencies
